J     I 


REPORT  OF  THE 
OVERSEAS  OOMMITTEE 

OF  THE 

WAR  WORK  COUNCIL 
I9l7- 1920 


!    M 


mama 


REPORT  OF  THE 
OVERSEAS    COMMITTEE 

OF  THE 

WAR  WORK  COUNCIL 

OF  THE 

Young  Women's 
christian  association 

1917-1920 


PREPARED  BY 

Helen    Hendricks 


Publication  Department 

National  Board 

Young  Womens  Christian  Association 

600  Lexington  Avenue 

New  York  City 


// :;; 


■a 


,Ao 


What  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Means  in  Czechoslovakia 


THIS  statuette,  the  work  of  Kodet,  a  leading  Czech  sculptor,  was 
designed  to  express  appreciation  of  the  protection  and  inspiration  of 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The  model  was  a  member  of  the  Prague  Association 
who  posed  as  the  central  figure  of  a  pageant  which  celebrated  the  opening 
of  the  local  city  playfield  for  girls  in  the  summer  of  1920. 


Table  of  Contents 


Centers  of  Work 5 

Overseas    Committee 8 

Overseas   Headquarters    Staff 8 

Workers  Overseas 9 

Commissions  and  Deputations 13 

Polish  Grey  Samaritans 13 

France    15 

Russia    69 

Poland    113 

Czecho-Slovakia    132 

Near  East   141 

General    Report 161 

Siberia 166 

Belgium    167 

Port  and  Transport  Work 173 

Roumania    176 

Serbia   182 

South  America 183 


"^ 


456702 


CENTERS    OF    WORK 
France 


Hostess  Houses — 18 

Brest— 4 

Beaune 

Chatelguyon 

Bordeaux 

Chateauroux — 3 

Brest — 3 

Chaumont — 2 

Chaumont 

Coetquidon 

Coblenz 

Coutrexeville 

Le  Mans 

Dijon — 2 

Neufchateau 

Joinville 

Neuenahr 

Limouges 

Nice 

Mars 

Paris — 

Nantes 

Hotel  Petrograd 
Hotel  Oxford  and 

Paris— 3 
Savenay — 5 

Cambridge 

St.  Nazaire 

Hotel  Palais  Royal 

Tours 

Reims 

Vichy— 5 

St.  Nazaire 

Vittel 

Toul 

Tours 

Foyers— 31 

Signal  Corps  Houses— 15 

Armentiers 
Bordeaux 

Bordeaux 

Bourges — 3 

Brest 

Etaples 

Chaumont 

Is-sur-Tille 

Coblenz 

LaRochelle 

Langres 

Lille 

Le  Havre 

Lyon — 3 

Neufchateau 

Marseilles. 

Nevers 

Montlucon 

Paris— 2 

Montpellier 

Souilly 

Mulhouse 

St.  Nazaire 

Nimes 

Toul 

Paris— 8 

Tours 

3  rue  Clavel 

Treves 

9  rue  Daunou 

Ivry 

Army  Service  Corps — 3 

73  rue  Notre  Dame  de  Naz- 

St. Nazaire 

areth 

Tours 

Puteaux 

Paris 

Quai  d'Orsay 

4  rue  la  Vrilliere 

Nurses'  Clubs-44 

6  rue  de  Solferino 
Reims 

Alleray 

Roanne — 2 

Angers — 2 

Romorantin 

Bazoilles — 5 

St.  Etienne 

Bordeaux 

Strasbourg 

^ 


CENTERS    OF    WORK 


France- 
Recreation  Centers — 6 

Paris —  4 

73  rue  Notre  Dame  de  Naz- 
areth 

Val  d'  Or 

Port  Martin 

L'  Oiseau  Bleu 
Tours — Isle   Simon 
St.  Etienne — Pare 

Summer  Camps — 5 

Boulogne 
Etaples 
Grenoble 
L'Oiseau  Bleu 
Quiberon 

Summer  Conference 
Chateau  d'Argeronne 


(Continued) 

Emergency  Training  School 

Paris 

Port  and  Transport  Work — 6 

Bordeaux 

Brest 

St.  Nazaire 

Liverpool,  England 

Southampton,  England 

Cemetery  Rest  Huts — 4 

Belleau  Woods 

Bony 

Fere-en-Tardenois 

Romagne  sous  Montfaucon 

British-American  Work — 3 

Club — Le  Havre 

W.  A.  A.  C— 2  camps 

Tours 

Bourges 


Russia  and  Siberia 


Archangel 
Club 

Hostess  House  for  troops  of 
A.  E.  F. 

Constantinople 

Russian  Refugees  Relief, 
Proti  Island 

Moscow 
Club 
Industrial  Survey 

Petrograd 
Club 


Samara 

Girls  Scouts 

Viborg,  Finland 

Club  for  Russian  refugees 

Vladivostok 
Club 

Hostess  House 
Recreation  for  Refugee  Chil- 
dren, Russian  Island 

Volga  River 

Educational  and  Agricul- 
tural Demonstration  trip 
with  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


Florence 

Student  Hostel 
Tea  Room 
Summer  Camp 

Milan 
Club 
Tea  Room 


Italy 
Genoa 

Headquarters 

Extension  Club  at  Sampier- 
darena 

Port  Work 


CENTERS    OF    WORK 


Italy —  ( Continued  ) 


Naples 
Club 
Port  Work 

Palermo 

Student  Hostel 

Rome 

Hostess  House 
Student  Hostel 


Spezia 

Portable  Hut  Recreation 
Center 

Trieste 

Hostess  House  and  Club 

Turin 

Student  Hostel 


Poland 


Warsaw- 
Headquarters,  Hotel  Bristol 
Szara 

Recreation  Center 
Nurses'  Club 
Henrykow  Camp 


Polish  Grey  Samaritan  Dis- 
trict Headquarters 


Cracow 
Kielse 
Lotz 
Lubin 


Lwow 
Pinsk 
Warsaw 
Wilna 


Czecho-Slovakia 

Centers  of  Work  in  Prague  Demonstration  City 
Headquarters  Y.  W.  C.  A 

Social  Survey  of  Prague  Student  Work 

Czech-American  Summer  Recreation  Office 

Training  School  Camp — Prerov 


Near  East 

Constantinople 

Headquarters 
Service  Centers 

Adana 

Beirut 

Constantinople 

Smyrna 

Near  East  Relief 
Rescue   Homes 

Arabkir 

Harpoot 

Marsovan 

Sivas 

Talas 

■        Belgium 

Brussels 

Headquarters 

Foyer 

Hostel 

Antwerp 

Hostess  House 

Foyer 

Port  Work 

ROUMANIA 

Bucharest 
Headquarters 
Club 
Factory  visiting 

Jassy 
Club 

7 


OVERSEAS    COMMITTEE 


Mrs.  John  R.  Mott,  chairman 

Mrs.  Stephen  Baker 

Mrs.  Francis  McNeil  Bacon 

Mrs.  Robert  Bacon 

Belle  Bennett 

Mrs.  William  Adams  Brown 

Mrs.  William  S.  Dodd 

Caroline  B.  Dow 

Mrs.  T.  Coleman  duPont 

Mrs.  J.  W.  Eyerman 

Mrs.  Thomas  Ewing 

Mrs.  Harry  Emerson  Fosdick 


Mrs.  Frank  Hagerman 
Mrs.  Robert  Lansing 
Mrs.  Frederick  Goodhue  Mead 
Mrs.  VanSantvoord    Merle- 
Smith 
Mrs.  Herbert  L.  Pratt 
Mrs.  John  Reid,  Jr. 
Mrs.  Harmon  Rennell 
Annie  M.  Reynolds 
Mrs.  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross 
Mrs.  J.  Ross  Stevenson 
Elizabeth  Wilson 


Mrs.  James  S.  Cushman 
Mrs.  John   French 


Ex-officio 

Mrs.  Robert  E.  Speer 
Helen  Davis 
Mabel  Cratty 


OVERSEAS    HEADQUARTERS    STAFF 


Sarah  S.  Lyon,  Executive 

Elizabeth  Boies  Cotton,  Rus- 
sia 

Sophia  S.  Porter,  Travel  Sec- 
retary 

Marian  Vincent,  Office  Secre- 
tary 


Julia  Bonafield, 
Helen  M.  Brickman, 

Personnel  Secretaries 
Marion  F.  Fernald, 
Jane  Hughes, 

Office  Assistants 


WORKERS    OVERSEAS 


Abbott,    Alice    Lyman France 

Ahlf ,   Mildred    France 

Airgood,  Helen  Jones Near  East 

Allchin,    Marion    France 

Allen,   Martha    Italy 

Amis,   Agnes    France 

Anderson,  Hettie France,  Belgium 

Executive 

Anderson,   Mary    France 

Archibald,    Alleyne    France 

Armes,   Irene    France 

Armstrong,   Mrs.   S.  C France 

Austin,  Edith   France 

Aykroyd,  Edith   France 

Baker,    Elizabeth    Haden France 

Baker,    Mary France,    Italy 

Balsley,    Helen    Belgium 

Barnes,    Florence    France 

Bates,  Mary  George  White.  .France 
Executive 

Beane,  Ruth    France 

Benham,    Ethel    Clark 

France,  Czecho-Slovakia 

Beraud,   Louise    France 

Bidwell,  Jessie France,  Italy 

Bissell,   Clara    Near  East 

Blanchard,    Edith    Italy 

Bliss,  Addie    .Russia    (Siberia) 

Boggs,   Lillian    Near   East 

Boyd,  Kate   Hillis.  .France,   Belgium 

Bowen,   Lucy    France 

Bredin,    Elizabeth    Russia 

Brown,  Emily  Klein. Czecho-Slovakia 

Buchanan,  Mary   France 

Bullis,   Irma   Alexander France 

Burkhart,    Edna    France 

Burner,    Oolooah    France 

Buse,   Alpha 

France,  Czecho-Slovakia 
Bushfield,  Laura   France 

Carson,    Emma    France 

Carson,    Katherine    France 

Carter,  Anile    Italy 

Cavers,    Jean    France 

Chambers,   Dorothea    Near   East 

Chandler,    Georgia    Lee France 

Chapin,    Emma    France 

Chapin,  Julia   France 

Charles,    Carrie    L France 


Chickering,   Martha    Poland 

Executive 

Christie,  Jean    Near  East 

Clark,   Dorothy    France 

Clark,  Keith   France 

Clark,    Marion    Russia 

Clarke,    Ethel    Grace France 

Clendenin,    Mary    France 

Cleveland,    Maude.  .France,    Belgium 

Cline,    Gladys    Russia 

Cockshaw,    Dorothy    France 

Colvin,   Winifred. .  .France,    Belgium 

Comstock,   Ethel    France 

Cook,   Margaret   France 

Corbett,  Maude    France 

Corbett,   Mildred   Siberia-Russia 

Cosgrove,   Ethel    

Czecho-Slovakia 

Cotton,    Elizabeth    Boies Russia 

Executive 

Covey,  Constance  Clark France 

Crawford,    Ruth Czecho-Slovakia 

Executive 

Crofoot,    Beulah    France 

Crump,    Nora France 

Crysler,  J.   Moss France 

Curry,  Gladys  France 

Curtis,  Flora  France 

Curtiss,   Elizabeth    Russia 

Daly,   Muriel   Italy 

Davenport,    Florence    France 

D'Aran,   Henrietta    France 

Davies,   Marian    France 

Davis,  Floy   France 

Day,  Alice   France 

Dean,  Thyrza  Barton,. France,  Poland 

Dickerson,    Elizabeth    Russia 

Dingman,  Mary   ..France,  Executive 

Dinsdale,   Tirza France,    Italy 

Dixon,  Mary   France 

Dockum,  Clara France,  Poland 

Dodson,  Edith   France 

Dow,  Mrs.  Arthur  Malcolm 

France,  Belgium 

Dow,  Caroline  B France 

Downie,  Regina  France 

Downs,    Lois Poland,    Executive 

Drake,  Grace    France 

Dudley,  Louise  France 


WOiRKERS    OVERSEA^ 


Duncan,   Elizabeth  W 

Czecho-Slovakia 

Dunn,   Harriett  A > France 

Dunham,   Marcia   O Russia 

f. '  Executive 

Duthie,  Mary  Eva.  .Czecho-Slovakia 

Earle,  Edna  France 

Eis,  Florence  M France 

Ely,   Georgia  L... Poland,  Executive 

Emery,  Laura  J France 

Erb,  Amy France 

Fay,   Mary  France 

Felt,   Mable   M France 

Fernald,   Marion  Faye France 

Fisher,   Florence    France 

Folsom,  Jessie  M..  ..Czecho-Slovakia 

Forncrook,  Elva  Russia 

Forsyth,  Margaret  E Near  East 

Fowler,    Margaret    B France 

Fowler,  Rena  France 

Fox,  Elizabeth    France 

Fox,   Evelyn   W France 

Foxlee,   Ludmilla   ...Czecho-Slovakia 

♦Franchot,  Katharine  France 

French,   Louise   S France 

Fulton,   Mary  C France 

Geary,   Marjorie    ...Czecho-Slovakia 

George,   Katy  Boyd France 

Gilbert,  Esther  L.  .France,  Roumania 

Glass,   Meta    France 

Goddard,   Elsie  France 

Goodrich,   Gertrude   D France 

Gordon,  Amy   France 

Gordon,  Olive  H France 

Gorman,  Gladys  G.. Russia   (Siberia) 

Gould,   Mercedes    France 

Graham,   Dorothy  Fuller France 

Granger,  Edith  France 

Graves,   Anna  France 

Graves,  Emily   Poland 

Graybeal,   Elizabeth    Poland 

Greenman,  Emily  H Italy 

Greenough,  Clara  M France 

Habersham,  Rose  D .  France,  Belgium 

Haig,   F.    Bertha France 

Hainert,    Frieda   H France 

Haines,  Vera   B France 

Hall,  Helen    France 

♦Deceased. 


Hanchette,  Mary  Estelle 

France,  Belgium 

Hanson,  Marjorie  S Italy 

Harlow,  Anna  L France 

Harrison,  Maud  L Near  East 

Harvey,   Harriet    France 

Harwick,  Grace   France 

Haynes,  Wilma   D Roumania 

Hendricks,  Helen    France 

Henshaw,   Lesley    France 

Hess,   Fjeril Czecho-Slovakia 

Heyneman,   Ruth  France 

Hickox,   Frances   France 

Hodgdon,    Caroline    France 

Hodges,    Evelyn France,    Belgiuro, 

Hodgkin,  Anita  A Roumania 

Executive 

Holman,   A.    Sherlie 

France,   Czecho-Slovakia 

Hopper,  Aletta  Russia   (Siberia) 

Horton,  Sarah  L France 

Howard,  Marie  Murkland France 

Howland,   Amy Russia    (Siberia) 

Hulbert,  Winifred Near  East 

Hull,  Lillian  Preston. Italy,  Executive 
Hurlbutt,  Mary  E..  .Czecho-Slovakia 

Husband,   Agnes  M France 

Hutchinson,   Mary  L France 

Izant,  Grace   Goulder France 

Jackson,  Lilian...   France,  Roumania: 

Jacobs,   Mary    France 

Jaeger,  Martha  H Roumania 

Jarrold,  Rachel France,  lta\f 

Jenkins,   Anna    S France 

Johnson,  Edith  Mae France,  Itab 

Johnson,  Irene    Italy 

Jones,   Marguerite  France 

Jones,   Perrie    France 

Jordan,  Cora  France 

Joy,   Helen France,    Belgium 

Judson,  Olive   France 

Kaley,  Madge  France 

Kauffman,  Rose  M Italy 

Kozlowska,   Stephanie   Poland 

Kudlicka,  Josef  a   Polandl 

Lack,    Dorothy France,    Russia 

Near  East: 
Landon,   Helen   F.  = France 


10 


WORKERS    OVERSEAS 


Lewis,   Muriel   Heap Russia 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  A.  T France 

Lingg,  Claire   Poland 

Lister,  Helen  T France 

Little,  Mabel  France 

Little,  Vesta   France 

Lumpkin,    Grace France 

Lyon,   Mary   Argyll France 

MacArthur,   Gertrude    France 

MacGregor,    Lelia    B France 

Macintosh,   Adeline France,   Italy 

MacKinnon,   Eva  France 

MacRae,   Christine    France 

McBride,    Mabel France 

Czecho-Slovakia 

McCance,  Jean Italy 

McClary,   Charlotte   E France 

McClure,  Emily  J France 

McCoy,  Hannah France 

McCutchen,  Margaret  W France 

McFarland,  Edna Near  East 

McFarland,  Nancy  E Near  East 

Mcintosh,  Elsie  T France 

McKibben,    Mary   L France 

Macy,   Alice    France 

Malcolm,   Mary    France 

Marlowe,  Violet  I France 

Maynard,  Helen  Jackson France 

Mayston,  Elizabeth  B France 

Mealey,  Helen   France 

Means,  Esther  B France 

Mettel,   Augusta    Poland 

Millen,  Marian  E France 

Mills,  Ruth  L France 

Mills,   Zilla   E France 

Mitchell,  Elizabeth   France 

Moflfet,  Jeannette  T France 

Molter,   Ella   S France 

Monroe,   Day    France 

Moore,  Gertrude  Griffith France 

Moore,    Margaret   King France 

Morris,   Margaret   Italy 

Morrison,  Ethel  V.. France,  Belgium 

Morriss,   Margaret    France 

Morrow,  Marion   France 

Morton,   Mary    France 

Morton,  Nannie  A.. France,  Belgium 

Neahr,    Marie    E France 


Neal,  Cora   D France 

Nelson,    Mildred    France 

Newman,    Dora    Lee France 

Nicholl,    Margaret   A France 

Niven,    Charlotte    France 

Gates,   Betty    Italy 

Ogden,  Helen Russia,  France 

Orr,    Helen    France 

Owens,    Margaret   A France 

Near  East 

Paret,   Marjorie   Poland 

Parrish,  Williamina   Italy 

Parsons,   Jessie   B France 

Patton,    Mary   Rebecca France 

Pauliny,    Marina    ...Czecho-Slovakia 

Peabody,  Marion   Near  East 

Peacock,  lone  L France.  Italy 

Pearce,  Winnif red   Belgium 

Pearson,   Ruth  Lee France 

Perham,    Mary    V France 

Persons,    Marjorie    France 

Pierce,  Alice  France 

Pilgren,   Perrie  France 

Porter,   Marion   E France 

Porterfield,  Mary  M France 

Post,   Mary   Helen France 

Pratt,   Louise    France 

Prentiss,   Henrietta   France 

Price,   Helen   M France 

Prince,  Winifred  Notman France 

Pritchard,   Elizabeth   Russia 

Prochaska,   Jean    ...Czecho-Slovakia 

Prudden,    Elinor Czecho-Slovakia 

Executive 

Quinn,   Sarah  E France 

Raber,  Irene France,   Italy 

Read,  Mary  M France 

Reed,  Rachel Near  East 

Richards,   Clarinda. .Russia    (Siberia) 

Richardson,   Grace   E France 

Ricker,   Christine   France 

Risley,  Florence  A.. France,  Belgium 

Robbins,   Alice    M France 

Robey,  Roberta    France 

Robinson,    Clara    France 

Roe,  Alma.  .Czecho-Slovakia,  France 
Roelof s,   Ebertha   Russia 


II 


WORKERS    OVERSEAS 


Roelofs,  Henrietta. Trance,  Executive 

Rolf e,  Mary  A France 

Romeyn,   Emma  F France 

Root,   Theodora    France 

Ross,    Emma   Jewell France 

Russel,  Julia  R Russia 

Ryall,   Katharine   Childs Russia 

Ryan,   Josephine    France 

Salmon,   Mabel  C France 

Sanderson,  Vida Near  East 

Sandlin,   Edna   C France 

Sanger,  Helen Russia   (Siberia) 

Schaef er,   Gretchen Near  East 

Schaef er,   Vera    France 

Schoonover,  Katherine  H France, 

Czecho-Slovakia 

Scott,   Betty  France 

Scribner,    Ethel    France 

Seabrook,   Ava    H Italy 

Seago,    Anne    Italy 

Sehon,  Clarette  L France,  Italy 

Severence,  Mildred    Belgium 

Seymour,   Sue  Clow France 

Shaw,    Sara   L France 

Sherrill,  Estelle  V.  L France 

Sisto,  Mary  Italy 

Skelton,   Christine   P France 

Sleight,    Esther    France 

Sloan,  Berkeley    France 

Smith,  Anne  Rylance.Czecho-Slovakia 
Smith,  Gladys  Mary. Russia  (Siberia) 

Smith,   Lillian   France 

Spencer,  Clarissa   Russia 

Squire,   Laura  C France 

Stastney,  Olga   Czecho-Slovakia 

Stebbins,  Katharine    France 

Stebbins,  Jane    France 

Stetson,   Mildred  R Near  East 

Stewart,    Ellen    Plympton France 

Storms,  Helen  A France 

Streibert,   Gladys   France 

Stuart,  Jeannette  France 

Stuart,  Marguerite  W France 

Summers,  Nelle  France 

Swartz,  Esther   '.Russia 

Sweet,  Annie  B France 

Swenson,  Alice  A France 

Syvret,  Clara  Maud. France,  Belgium 

Tanner,  Elsie  Near  East 

Tappmg,  Amy  P. Poland 

Taylor,   Clara    Russia 

Taylor,   Evelyn    Belgium 

Taylor,  Harriet. .  .France,  Executive 

Taylor,  Lulu  Frick France,  Italy 

Thayer,  Mary  Scott Italy,  France 

Thomas,   Evadne   H France 


Thomas,  Florence  Andrews..  .France 
Thompson,  Jennie  L.France,  Belgium 

Tilden,  Winifred    France 

Tirrell,   Louise  Wood ..  France,  Italy 

Titlow,   Bennetta   D France 

Todd,  L.  Beatrice France 

Treat,    Katharine    W France 

Trindle,   Jessie    France 

Tucker,  Grace  I France 

Tunell,   Winifred    France 

Turner,   Mabel   B..  ..Czecho-Slovakia 

Uline,  Mary  D France 

Van  Eaton,  Kate Russia 

Van  Slyke,  Berenice  K France 

Vasek,   Anna   Czecho-Slovakia 

Vawdrey,  Ethel   France 

Vernon,   Hazel. .  .Russia,   Near   East 

Vose,   Grace  E France 

Vossler,    Mathilde. .  .Russia,  Near  East 

*Walker,   Lillian    France 

Warner,  Estella   Ford Russia 

Warner,    Mabel France,   Italy 

Warnes,  Leila Russia    (  Siberia) 

Watson,  Ruth  E France 

Watson,    Sarah    P France 

West,  Frances   Poland 

West,    Virginia    Lewis France 

Weston,  Marion  J Near  East 

White,   Cecilia    France 

White,  Margaret  B Near  East 

Whiting,  Helen  E France 

Wilder,    Charlotte    Italy 

Williams,   Isobel    France 

Williamson,  Marguerite  T France 

Willis,  Grace  E Near  East 

Wilson,    Bernice Russia, 

Near  East,  Roumania 

Wilson,   Kate    France 

Winship,  Mildred  L.. France,  Belgium 

Winter,  Agnes  M France 

Wise,   Helen  W Italy 

Wood,    Eleanor    France 

Wood,  Lorna   Roumania 

Woodsmall,  Ruth    France 

Woolley,  Alice  S France 

Young,  Carrie  Van  Patten. Near  East 

Executive 

Young,   Willie   R France 


^Deceased. 


12 


COMMISSIONS    AND     DEPUTATIONS 


Irene  Osgood  Andrews 

Mrs.  Francis  McNeil  Bacon 

Mrs.  W.  T.  Bickett 

Harriet  Stanton  Blatch 

Mrs.  William  Adams  Brown 

Alpha  Buse 

Bertha  Conde 

Mabel  Cratty 

Mrs.  James  S.  Cushman 

Katherine  B.  Davis 

Mary  E.  Dreier 

Mrs.  Coleman  DuPont 

Jeannette  Emrich 

Louise  Fitch 

Blanche  Geary 

Welthy  Honsinger 

Ruth  W 


Imogene  Ireland 
Josephine  P.  January 
Sarah  S.  Lyon 
Rhoda  McCulloch 
Mary  E.  McDowell 
Mrs.  Angus   Mackay   Porter 
Mrs.  Herbert  Lee  Pratt 
Mrs.  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross 
Ella  Schooley 
Florence  Simms 
Margaret  Slattery 
Nelle  Swartz 
Edith  Hale  Swift 
Helen  Thomas 
Ruth  Topping 
Marie  Wing 
oodsmall 


POLISH    GRAY    SAMARITANS 


Mary  Andrzejewska 

Anna  Badura 

Helena  A.  Chmielewska 

Helen  W.  Cichowicz 

Catharine  Ciesicki 

Josefa  Czarnik 

Annette  Friebe 

Mary  Gach 

Martha  Graczyk 

Helen  Gustovt 

Stella  Kendziorski 

Anna  Kopec 

Zofia  E.  Kosobucka 

Felicia  Krutewicz 

Catherine  G.  Krzyzanowska 


Stanislawa  Lysakowska 
Anna  Michalowska 
Helen  Mielcarek 
Estelle  Mucha 
Leokadya  Muszynska 
Helen  Pietrowska 
Caroline  Slawinska 
Valentine  Smentkowska 
Frances  P.  Sobczynska 
Valeria  C.  Staszko 
Josephine  Tarkowska 
Valeria  M.  Tomasik 
Eleanor  A.  Wasielewska 
Genevieve  F.  Winckiewicz 
Christine  Zduleczna 


13 


^ 

^ 

^ 

^v 

^ 

\ 

< 

\ 

#s^    1 

P*^^*.  ^ 

rvA. 

y\ 

. 

•            >: 

,  '' 

s 

y,^. 

J.      > 

/  s^ 

■\ 

^ 

{3 

I           5 

D 

S 

r^ 

f^  J-- 

O 

■*» 

/^^ 

s 

\^ 

vc 

> 

< 

D 

SiV. 

V  /« 

/ 

o 

1         > 

•        o 

'xS 

O 

5 

^  > 

\. 

X 

( 

V 

V 

-1 V 

u 

/^ 

§       ^ 

O  1- 

s 

\ 

> 

^  ) 

1 

J 

^         s 

> 

< 

\ 

^          o 

D* 

< 

) 

O               f- 

o' 

S    I 

£ 

^ 

; 

5 

1 

< 

1 

S 
2 

o 

i 

<^ 

u 

<«  =  <s 

■;     H 

5S 

■>^ 

5 

^ 

• 

j 

^ 

lp$ 

i  3 

J  ,"2 

< 

ce 

'A 

/ 

e> 

Sri 

OS 

§^ 

H 

J-^ 

(/)  • 

<^ 

J        1 

> 

5            D 

2; 
o 

i 

1 

1  >i 

g 

\    1  % 

\ 
k 

>• 
1 

a 
o. 

5 

s 
o 

i 

^     \ 

\ 

« 

J 

\          'q«. 

\ 

tj 

V            *- 

\ 

•< 

4) 

1 

2 
< 

3 

i 

^ 

k 

I 

t 

^ ? 

•1%.; 

> 

7 

/^ 

€ 

■^ 

V 

o 

y-sll 

/A.,. 

/ 

V 

w 

"•"iS 

/  ^ 

X 

^  / 

\ 

o 

\ 

O   I 

"1^ 

1 

4 

^ 

/ 

r 

1 

1 

f 

\ 

3 

o     0 

0 

X 

.£ 

H 

V     ' 

.i 

V 

/ 

f 

t^ 

/ 

14 


France 


THE  Y.  W.  C.  A.  being  an  Association  of  women  working  for 
women,  with  more  than  fifty  years  of  experience  to  its  credit, 
was  invited  to  France  as  the  organization  best  fitted  to  meet 
the  needs  of  women  in  war  work  overseas.     The  invitation  came 
from  the  following  sources. 

In  March,  1917,  a  letter  from  Mile.  Fuchs  representing  the  Central 
Committee  of  French  women  was  received,  making  an  appeal  for  help. 
In  June,  1917,  Miss  Ruth  Rouse,  ^  representative  of  the  World's 
Committee  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  of  the  World's  Student  Christian 
Federation  endorsed  and  supplemented  Mile.  Fuchs'  appeal.  In  July 
a  second  letter  was  received  from  Mile.  Fuchs.  In  June  a  cable  from 
Mr.  E.  C.  Carter,  representing  the  Y._  M.  C.  A.  in  Europe,  later 
amplified  in  a  letter,  reinforced  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  William  D.  Sloane 
of  the  National  War  Council  of  the  International  Committee  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  asked  that  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  should  undertake 
work  among  American  nurses  in  France.  In  France  the  war  had 

sent  from  their  homes,  from  many  kinds  of  work,  and  from  varied 
social  positions  and  backgrounds,  thousands  of  women  to  labor  in 
munition  factories,  often  to  live  in  barracks  like  soldiers  with  no 
provision  for  comfort,  home  convenience  or  diversion.  In 
America  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  war  had  meant 
not  only  vast  movements  of  men  and  supplies  but  mobilization  of 
women  for  work  in  connection  with  the  Army  and  in  the  welfare 
societies  at  home  and  in  France.  Qt  was  desired  that  the  Y.  W.  C. 
A.  should  come  to  France  to  open  entertainment  and  refreshment 
centers  for  French  women  and  munition  workers  and  to  provide 
suitable  living  quarters  and  recreation  facilities  for  the  American 
women  war  workers  in  FranceJ 

In  response  to  the  invitation,  the  War  Work  Council  of  the 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  sent  to  France  in  August,  1917,  three  secre- 
taries to  study  the  situation:  Miss  Henrietta  Roelofs  as  adminis- 
trative head,  Miss  Mary  A.  Dingman  to  study  the  industrial  situa- 
tion of  the  French  women,  Miss  Katy  Boyd  George  to  look  into  the 
needs  of  American  women.  The  result  was  the  establishment  of 
four  main  lines  of  work: 

For  American  women — Nurses'  Clubs,  Hostess  Houses,  Signal 
Corps  Houses. 

IS 


For  French  women — Foyers  des  Alliees. 

Through  these  activities  not  only  were  thousands  of  American 
and  French  women  served  during  the  war  days  but  many  women 
of  other  nationaHties  found  the  Hostess  Houses  of  help.  Thousands 
of  British  women,  known  as  **WAACS,"  were  working  in  France 
with  the  British  Army.  One  unit  of  these  was  taken  over  by  the 
American  Army.  For  these  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  established  a 
club.  A  British-American  Club  was  organized  at  Le  Havre  to  serve 
the  nurses  and  war  workers  of  the  two  nations  and  transients  of 
many  nationalities  as  they  passed  through  that  port  city. 

The  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France  was  intensive  rather 
than  extensive  in  character.  The  personnel  was  chosen,  in  the 
light  of  a  long  experience  in  serving  women,  not  only  from  those 
attached  to  the  Association  but  also  from  other  groups  and  expe- 
riences. Wherever  a  woman  was  found  available,  whose  specialty 
fitted  her  to  meet  the  situation  in  France,  that  woman  was  secured. 
Women  of  national  reputation  were  summoned  for  long  or  short 
periods  of  work  or  study  as  advisers.  The  spirit  of  the  whole  work 
was  cooperation.  Where  there  existed  an  organization,  American 
or  French,  already  in  touch  with  a  situation,  that  organization  was 
called  into  play.  Individual  women  in  positions  of  leadership  were 
invited  to  assist.    In  such  a  spirit  the  work  grew. 

Beginning  with  the  three  secretaries  who  sailed  in  August,  1917, 
the  number  in  France  in  August,  1918,  had  reached  seventy-two.  At 
the  time  of  the  Armistice  there  were  forty-eight  centers  of  work  in 
twenty-eight  cities  and  towns  of  France,  reaching  approximately  20,000 
American,  British  and  French  women,  and  administered  by  about  one 
hundred  American  secretaries.  This  work  included  six  Hostess 
Houses,  fourteen  Nurses'  Clubs,  twelve  Signal  Corps  Houses,  fifteen 
Foyers  des  AUiees,  one  WAAC  Club  and  one  British-American  Club. 

The  Armistice  made  opportunity  for  greater  service  in  the  wel- 
fare societies  as,  with  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  the  demand  for 
other  activities  increased.  Recreation  and  hospitality  were  taken 
more  and  more  into  account  as  part  of  the  overseas  program  and 
the  agencies  organizing  these  were  called  upon  for  greater  activi- 
ties. The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  grew  in  proportion.  On  March  1,  1919, 
there  were  136  secretaries  in  France.  On  May  1,  1919,  there  were 
168.  May  was  a  month  of  changes  and  sailings.  On  June  1,  1919, 
there  were  156.  The  centers  of  work  grew  likewise.  In  December, 
1917,  there  were  five  centers:  four  Nurses'  Clubs  in  connection 
with  Base  Hospitals  and  one  Hostess  House  in  Paris.  On  May  1, 
1919,  there  were  fifty-six  centers.  The  summer  and  fall  of  1919 
saw  what  had  been  the  war  work  changing  into  more  permanent  lines. 
Many  centers  had  been  closed  shortly  after  the  Armistice.  These 
were  particularly  Nurses'  Clubs  and  Signal  Corps  houses.  The 
Hostess  Houses  continued  their  usefulness  for  a  longer  period  but 
were  gradually  closed  as  Americans  were  withdrawn  from  France, 
only  a  few  houses  remaining.  January  1,  1920,  there  were  ninety- 
one   secretaries   still   in   France   and   thirty-four   centers   of   work. 

i6 


May  1,  1920,  there  were  sixty-seven  secretaries  and  thirty-one  cen- 
ters. The  total  number  of  secretaries  that  had  been  sent  to  France, 
including  those  who  had  returned  home,  on  May  1,  1920,  was  289. 

From  the  beginning  it  was  found  wise  to  organize  the  work 
under  departments,  each  department  having  a  head  secretary  to 
travel  over  the  whole  field,  plan  the  work  as  a  whole  and  organize 
her  forces.  The  original  four  main  lines  of  work  made  four  depart- 
ments. In  addition  to  these  departments  there  w^as  a  headquarters 
stafif  to  take  care  of  office  w^ork,  finances,  travel,  publicity,  edu- 
cational work  and  hospitality.  The  entire  work  headed  up  under 
one  executive  secretary. 

Nurses'  Work 

Nurses  formed  the  largest  group  of  American  women  sent  over- 
seas in  war  days — 12.000.  To  nurses  came  the  first  hand  knowl- 
edge of  what  the  fighting  meant.  Their  role,  magnificent,  heroic 
even  in  peace  times,  became  the  great  contribution  by  which  the 
Army  was  served,  in  the  saving  of  life,  in  the  putting  of  men  back 
into  the  trenches,  sometimes  at  the  cost  of  lives  among  nurses 
themselves,  always  at  the  expense  of  the  nurse's  vitality  and 
strength.  Their  work  took  them  nearer  the  front  than  was  pleasant 
for  comfort  and  safety.  In  the  great  system  of  hospitals  of  the 
A.  E.  F.,  hospitals  which  closely  followed  the  lines  of  battle,  and 
hospitals  in  secure  quarters  back  of  the  lines,  the  nurses  and  their 
work  made  possible  in  a  large  degree  the  morale  of  the  Army. 
But  who  could  take  time  to  make  possible  a  little  rest  and  recreation 
for  the  nurses  themselves?  They  were  far  too  busy  to  think  of 
iheir  own  pleasure.  Their  living  conditions  were  not  conducive  ^o 
relaxation,  most  of  them  lived  in  large  dormitories,  perhaps  twenty 
or  sixty  beds  to  a  room,  with  a  packing  box  apiece  for  their  furni- 
ture. Accepting  such  conditions  as  their  lot,  they  made  no  com- 
plaints. It  was  the  visit  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  the  nurses  in  the 
hospitals  that  discovered  the  real  need.  At  the  time  of  the  Crimean 
War,  in  the  days  of  Florence  Nightingale,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had 
been  organized  in  England  to  minister  to  nurses  returning,  tired, 
sick  and  homeless.  In  the  day  of  the  Great  War  the  American 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  already  organized,  went  to  meet  the  nurses  in  the 
places  where  they  worked,  there  to  make  life  more  livable,  hours 
ofif  duty  more  pleasant. 

The  plan  of  organization  was  cooperative.  The  Chief  Nurse 
and  the  Commanding  Officer  at  any  Army  post  invited,  through  the 
Nurses'  Bureau  of  the  Red  Cross,  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  to  be- 
come the  hostess  at  the  hut  usually  provided  by  the  Red  Cross. 
After  the  secretary  was  installed,  the  hut  was  maintained  as  a 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  Club.  The  first  invitations  came  from  Base  Hospital 
No.  101  at  St.  Nazaire  and  from  Base  Hospital  No.  17  at  Dijon  in 
November,  1917.  The  two  clubs  organized  then  continued  through 
the  war  and  nearly  a  year  after  the.  Armistice.  In  'December,  1917, 
Base  Hospital  No.  27  at  Angers  and  the  City  Club  for  Nurses  at 
Brest  were  added  to  the  list.     During  the  war  there  were  sixteen 

17 


such  huts  operated  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  After  the  Armistice  twenty- 
one  more  were  opened.  A  total  of  thirty-eight  clubs  was  organ- 
ized. It  is  estimated  that  of  the  12,000  nurses  with  the  American 
Army  in  France,  probably  8,000  were  served  directly  or  indirectly 
through  the  Nurses'  Clubs. 

The  work  at  a  Nurses'  Hut  was  not  such  as  could  be  described 
by  statistics.  It  belongs  rather  in  the  element  of  the  intangible, 
the  value  of  which  is  better  pictured  than  computed.  One  of  the 
secretaries  who  went  from  hospital  to  hospital,  before  any  of  the 
huts  were  established,  in  order  to  understand  the  lives  of  the 
nurses  and  to  find  out  what  comforts  could  be  provided  for  them, 
tells  with  what  enthusiasm  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  welcomed: 

"From  the  four  corners  of  the  big  factory,  now  turned  into  a 
military  hospital,  they  gathered  to  hear  what  we  had  to  say,  and 
I  can  tell  you  it  was  great  fun  to  talk  with  them.  If  you  want  to 
know  what  a  royal  welcome  is,  just  try  being  the  first  English 
speaking  woman  that  a  group  of  compatriots  has  seen  for  three 
weeks.  Add  to  that  the  fact  that  no  English  newspaper  had  got 
through  and  you  will  realize  what  it  meant  to  sit  until  11  o'clock 
at  the  end  of  a  plain  deal  table  in  a  small  room  whose  corners 
were  festooned  with  drying  clothes  and  answer  question  after  ques- 
tion. Even  the  nurse  who  was  ill  in  the  nearby  dormitory  came 
in  and  lay  on  a  chaise  longue,  forgetting  her  aches  and  pains  in 
her  eagerness  to  hear  the  news  from  home.  I  slept  that  night  the 
sleep  of  the  happily  weary  in  a  corner  of  the  vast  ward.  The  next 
morning  I  gave  a  French  lesson — a  group  of  nursed  desiring  to 
know  what  to  say  when  introduced  or  when  someone  says  Tar- 
don'  or  'Merci.'  I  had  to  leave  shortly  after  lunch,  and  it  was 
worth  while  to  hear  the  hearty  invitations  that  the  girls  gave  me 
to  come  back  soon." 

The  Base  Hospitals  varied  widely.  Luxurious  chateaux,  in  the 
country,  disused  hotels  in  fashionable  watering  places,  old  china 
factories,  schools,  convents — any  kind  of  building  or  group  of 
buildings  big  enough  to  house  a  ward  or  two  of  beds, 
did  duty.  They  were  usually  far  from  the  places  of  communication 
with  the  outside  world ;  they  often  seemed  stranded  in  a  desert  of 
mud  that  always  overflowed  with  work  and  suffering.  A  welcome 
addition,  therefore,  to  the  compound  and  the  force  was  the  little 
temporary  hut  in  some  corner  of  the  ground  where  one  always 
found  a  bit  of  cheer,  a  teapot  boiling  or  a  hot  cup  of  chocolate 
ready,  and  above  all,  one  person,  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary,  a  little 
apart  from  the  suffering  and  free  from  the  schedule  of  hospital,  glad 
to  give  all  her  time  or  as  much  as  was  required  to  normal,  happy 
conversation.  There  was  always  a  piano  and  usually  a  group 
around  it.  Strains  of  ragtime,  some  good,  dance  music  or  an  eve- 
ning hymn  were  equally  enjoyed.  Vv^hatever  the  relief  sought, 
whether  amusement,  relaxation  or  companionship  it  was  found  at 
the  hut.  A  Chief  Nurse,  whose  business  it  was  to  inspect  hos- 
pitals, remarked  that  she  could  usually  tell  the  difference  betv/een 
a  hospital  that  had  a  secretary  and  one  that  had  not,  by  the  happi- 
ness of  the  nurses. 

i8 


The  self  sacrifice  of  the  nurses  was  as  natural  as  it  was  Incon- 
spicuous, whether  it  meant  the  giving  up  of  sleep,  of  a  little  fun, 
or  of  long  cherished  desires.  During  the  war  the  nurses  were  fre- 
quently on  duty  for  eighteen  hours  at  a  time.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  of  continuous  walking  over  stone  floors  that  made  one's  feet 
ache,  the  only  desire  was  for  a  quiet  corner  in  which  to  sleep.  "I 
used  to  think  that  the  weariness  of  the  life  of  nurses  was  exagger- 
ated," wrote  one  of  the  secretaries.  "Now  I  see  that  half  has  never 
been  told,  and  when  you  see  that  combined  with  extraordinarj^ 
forgetfulness  of  self,  expressed  in  a  hundred  ways,  you  just  stand 
still  before  it.  I  have  watched  girls  carry  their  dessert  from  the 
table  for  wounded  boys — fresh  fruit  for  a  feverish  lad  or  a  batch  of 
fudge  for  a  ward  of  boys  who  are  well  enough  to  crave  it." 

The  story  is  told  of  a  masquerade  in  a  Nurses'  Hut  which  had  been 
planned  for  ten  days.  Mysterious  packages  appeared,  whispered 
conferences  took  the  place  of  general  conversation,  helpless  mascu- 
linity was  aided,  and  finally  everything  was  ready.  The  halls  were 
beautiful,  the  punch  ready  to  be  poured  on  the  ice  and  the  musi- 
cians about  to  arrive  when  word  came  of  a  German  advance  and 
of  wounded  American  boys  on  their  way  to  the  hospital.  In  two 
hours  the  dance  halls  were  filled  with  freshly  made  beds  and  the 
girls  in  Marie  Antoinette  coifYures,  and  the  men  in  bits  of  mas- 
querade finery  peeping  through  surgical  over-clothes,  were  ready 
to  receive  the  incoming  soldiers.  But  it  did  not  always  happen  so. 
Many  events  took  place  as  scheduled  in  the  hut  which  came  to  be 
known  as  the  Sunshine  Room.  After  the  Armistice  the  huts  had  a 
greater  use  than  ever,  as  boys  returning  from  the  front  and  invited 
in  by  the  nurses  gazed  at  the  ''luxurious"  surroundings  and  apolo- 
gized for  their  awkward  handling  of  a  tea  cup  by  saying  they  hadn't 
been  in  a  civilized  place  for  a  long  time.  As  the  nurses  themselves 
found  more  time  for  play,  the  hut  facilities  were  at  their  command 
for  parties  and  times  of  gayety.  The  secretary  in  charge  took  de- 
light in  serving  the  nurses  in  little  ways  too  numerous  to  mention. 
Many  were  the  shopping  expeditions  in  which  she  painstakingly 
followed  down  a  long  list  of  individual  wants  of  nurses  too  busy 
and  too  remote  to  do  any  shopping  for  themselves.  Later  there 
was  opportunity  for  arranging  trips  of  pleasure  and  sightseeing  for 
nurses. 

The  need  for  a  City  Club  for  the  convenience  of  nurses  in  Paris 
caused  the  opening  of  an  attractive  little  house  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  shopping  district,  at  6  rue  Edward  VII.  A  Club  was  also 
run  in  connection  with  the  Red  Cross  Equipment  Bureau  at  10 
Rue  Boissy  d'Angles,  Paris. 

As  the  nurses  moved  toward  the  ports  of  embarkation  prepara- 
tory to  sailing  for  home,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  followed  them  with  inter- 
est and  helpful  suggestions.  Hostess  Houses  were  at  their  ser- 
vice. A  new  club  was  opened  at  Kerhuon  near  Brest  for  the  thous- 
ands of  nurses  awaiting  sailing.  Five  clubs  existed  at  Savenay, 
near  St.  Nazaire,  and  one  at  St.  Nazaire. 

19 


This  work  for  nurses  was  carried  on  with  the  most  cordial  co- 
operation of  the  Army  at  every  step,  whose  readiness  in  granting 
fuel,  commissary  and  other  privileges  made  possible  the  comforts 
of  the  hut.  Frequent  calls  at  the  hut  and  words  of  written  and 
spoken  appreciation  testified  to  the  value  which  officers  placed 
upon  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  among  nurses. 

Hostess  Houses 

In  response  to  the  need  not  only  of  nurses  but  of  all  American 
war  workers  in  France,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  established  a  series  of 
Hostess  Houses.  Here  transient  women  might  find  lodgings,  per- 
manently stationed  women  a  home,  and  here  both  men  and 
women  in  service  could  procure  good  meals  at  reasonable  cost  and 
enjoy  the  hospitality  of  an  American  house.  The  first  Hostess 
House,  Hotel  Petrograd,  33  rue  Caumartin,  Paris,  was  opened  in 
December,  1917.  In  those  dark  days  of  uncertainty,  the  women 
who  came  wore  the  uniforms  of  every  war  working  group.  One  of 
the  chief  pastimes  in  the  dining  room  was  to  try  to  make  out  what 
the  letters  stood  for  which  adorned  the  uniforms:  A.  R.  C,  C.  A. 
R.  D.,  Q.  M.  A.  A.  C,  etc.  Wherever  women  were  assembled,  uni- 
forms predominated — except  those  informal  assemblies  in  kimono 
or  hastily  snatched  outer  wraps  on  the  ground  floor  or  in  the  "cave" 
when  the  siren  sounded  the  alarm  for  an  air  raid  at  night.  Through 
the  winter  of  1917-18  life  at  the  Hotel  Petrograd  was  varied  by  the 
exigencies  of  the  moment.  The  mere  matter  of  supplying  the 
physical  needs,  food  which  was  limited  in  quantities  and  variety, 
and  lodgings  for  tired  workers  from  the  front,  was  the  main  busi- 
ness. Next  in  importance  came  the  program  of  such  social  events 
as  were  possible  to  lighten  the  strain  of  war  days.  The  Thursday 
evening  At  Homes  with  music  or  lectures  were  very  popular.  The 
casual  groups  that  gathered  around  the  piano  for  informal  sings, 
or  sat  about  enjoying  a  reunion  in  Paris,  or  even  dared  to  make 
fudge  in  the  alcove  of  the  salon,  were  typical  of  the  more  general 
use  of  the  house.  A  real  American  home  in  a  foreign  land  it  be- 
came, not  only  to  the  women  who  lived  there,  but  to  many  enlisted 
men  and  some  officers  who  dropped  in.  One  woman  said  that  her 
decision  with  regard  to  a  contract  for  another  year  with  the  Red 
Cross  depended  entirely  upon  whether  the  Hotel  Petrograd  was  to 
be  kept  open,  since  that  was  the  only  home  she  knew  outside  of 
America,  andi  if  she  had  to  give  that  up,  she  preferred  to  return 
to  her  home  in  America. 

There  were  moments  difficult,  and  moments  dramatic,  moments 
tragic,  and  moments  amusing,  in  the  running  of  the  Hostess  House 
in  war-stricken  Paris.  The  most  difficult  was  the  time  when  every 
bed  was  filled  and  a  party  of  seventeen  arrived  at  1  A.  M.  demand- 
ing shelter.  The  most  dramatic  was  the  departure  for  the  front, 
when  the  front  was  a  very  short  distance  from  Paris,  of  a  unit  of 
nurses  and  doctors  by  automobile,  each  carrying  his  own  equip- 
ment, gas  masks  and  camouflaged  helmets,  conspicuously  proclaim- 
ing the  proximity  of  dangers   only   too   well   known.     The   most 

20 


tragic  were  the  days  following  a  week,  steady,  of  air  raids  each 
night,  when  everybody's  nerves  were  on  edge;  the  maids,  most  of 
whom  were  refugees,  bombed  out  of  their  own  towns,  threatened  to 
leave,  and  the  chef  chased  the  pastry  cook  with  a  carving  knife. 
But  fortunately  there  were  amusing  incidents  which  lightened  the 
strain :  as  when  a  shy  boy,  straight  from  the  front,  asked  the  secre- 
tary behind  the  desk  if  he  might  have  a  girl  to  talk  to,  since  he 
hadn't  seen  an  American  girl  for  months.  The  obliging  secretary 
always  found  a  girl  and  reserved  a  table  in  the  most  secluded  spot 
of  the  dining  room. 

That  the  dining  room  of  the  Hotel  Petrograd  was  appreciated 
not  only  socially  but  gastronomically  was  evidenced  by  the  number 
served.  With  a  seating  capacity  of  150,  the  dining  room  was  serv- 
ing in  July,  1918,  an  average  of  175  a  day.  By  the  end  of  the 
summer  the  average  had  grown  to  425,  and  in  January,  1919,  was 
850,  the  largest  single  day  being  "President  Wilson  Day"  when 
1,023  were  served. 

The  need  for  a  second  Hostess  House  in  Paris  brought  about 
the  opening  of  Hotel  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  13  rue  d'Alger.  This 
house  was  taken  in  December,  1918,  used  two  months  as  a  Signal 
Corps  house  until  other  quarters  could  be  found,  then  opened  as  a 
Hostess  House  in  February,  1919.  But  the  waiting  list  of  those 
eager  to  get  into  Hostess  Houses  in  Paris  was  longer  than  ever, 
and  on  April  10,  1919,  the  third  Paris  Hostess  House  was  opened, 
Hotel  Palais  Royal,  4  rue  de  Valois.  The  three  Paris  Hostess 
Houses  helped  gradually  to  relieve  the  congestion  in  the  housing 
conditions  of  overcrowded  Paris,  but  even  the  three  could  not  take 
care  of  all  who  applied  and  the  waiting  list  continued  to  carry  some 
300  names  of  women  waiting  their  turn.  The  Hotel  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  was  used  for  the  permanent  women  as  far  as  possible, 
leaving  the  other  two  places  which  were  larger,  and  especially  the 
Hotel  Petrograd  to  lodge  transients.  Each  of  the  Hostess  Houses 
served  meals  to  many  more  than  resided  within  the  hotel.  Officers 
and  men  soon  found  their  way  to  this  haven  of  "American  girls" 
and  coming  once  as  invited  guests  returned  as  frequent  patrons. 
Each  of  the  houses  was  a  social  center  of  American  Hfe  in  the  city. 

In  the  meantime  a  string  of  Hostess  Houses  was  extending 
through  the  provinces.  It  had  been  found  more  and  more  needful 
to  furnish  quarters  for  American  women  at  the  places  of  greatest 
coming  and  going.  Early  in  the  war  Tours  had  become  an  Ameri- 
can center.  In  February,  1918,  a  Hostess  House  was  opened  in 
Tours — a  large  attractive  French  dwelling  with  a  garden  which  in 
good  weather  was  the  gathering  place  of  many  groups.  The  house 
provided  fourteen  regular  beds  and  kept  a  room  or  two*  outside  for 
an  emergency  overflow.  An  average  of  seventy-five  meals  were 
served  a  day.  The  enlisted  men  found  their  way  here  too.  "We 
thought  we  had  to  leave  this  in  America.  We  didn't  believe  you 
women  would  be  willing  to  come  to  France,"  was  the  remark  of 
one  of  them.  On  a  Jewish  holiday  when  there  were  800  soldiers  in 
town  for  whom  no  provision  had  be^n  made,  many  dropped  in  to 

21 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  Y.  W.  C.  A.   HOSTESS  HOUSE  AT  TOURS,  FRANCE 


22 


inspect  the  Hostess  House.  (_After  their  departure  one  ran  back 
alone  to  say,  "I  lik£_^a  place  that  looks  like  home — home  furniture 
and  home  womenTj  The  Tours  Hostess  House  was  open  until 
May  19,  1919. 

Another  place  which  thronged  with  Americans  was  Brest.  The 
first  Hostess  House  was  opened  in  Brest  in  September,  1918,  but 
it  was  found  necessary  to  have  a  second  opened  in  May,  1919,  and 
with  the  additional  need  of  extending  hospitality  to  French  brides 
of  Americans,  a  third  house  was  opened  at  Brest  and  a  "bungalow" 
Hostess  House  at  St.  Nazaire  in  the  Army  camps  themselves, 
where  barrack  and  Army  equipment  had  been  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  meet  this  emergency.  Bordeaux  had  a 
similar  problem.  A  Hostess  House  was  opened  there  in  Septem- 
ber, 1918,  to  serve  American  women  and  great  was  the  use  to 
which  it  was  put  in  the  ten  months  of  its  existence.  It  was  esti- 
mated that  5i,600  beds  and  20,000  meals  were  the  extent  of  its 
service.  When  the  war  brides  came  to  Bordeaux  a  camp  estab- 
lished for  them  at  Genicart  was  put  in  charge  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
All  soldiers  and  their  wives  came  to  the  Hostess  House  to  register 
and  secure  permission  for  the  wives  to  enter  the  camp.  "This  is 
just  like  home,"  was  said  over  and  over  again  by  those  who  came 
to  the  Bordeaux  Hostess  House.  The  atmosphere  of  home  was  felt 
in  the  spirit  of  the  group  that  gathered  around  the  big  table  in  the 
spacious  French  dining  room,  and  the  secretary  who  sat  at  the 
head  of  the  table  was  looked  upon,  not  only  by  women  war  work- 
ers, as  the  head  of  their  family,  but  also  by  transient  women,  some 
of  them  missionaries  going  to  and  from  distant  places,  and  by 
Army  officers  and  enlisted  men  who  found  her  always  ready  to 
help  and  to  make  them  feel  at  home.  The  supervision  of  the  brides 
in  the  three  port  cities  of  Bordeaux,  Brest  and  St.  Nazaire  while 
partially  Hostess  House  work,  soon  developed  a  department  of  its 
own,  known  as  Port  and  Transport  Work. 

Toul  was  a  city  so  near  the  front  in  the  fall  of  1918  that  it  became 
a  meeting  place  for  war  workers  going  to  and  fro  on  the  road  to 
service  in  connection  with  the  Army.  A  Hostess  House  was  there- 
fore greatly  needed  in  this  town  which  had  been  enough  of  a  battle 
ground  to  paralyze  any  natural  facilities  it  possessed  for  housing 
and  feeding  soldiers  and  war  workers  comfortably.  In  November, 
1918,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  succeeded  in  finding  quarters  for  a  Hostess 
House :  an  old  saloon  and  lodging  house  which  the  Blue  Triangle 
could  metamorphose  into  a  real  American  dining  room  and  a  living 
room  with  sleeping  parlors  above.  What  had  been  the  bar-room 
was  set  thick  with  little  tables  all  filled  with  khaki-clad  individuals 
eager  to  spend  their  month's  pay  or  that  part  of  it  which  was 
required  for  a  good  American  meal.  The  men  predominated  but 
the  women  were  there  too,  which  perhaps  accounted  for  the  popu- 
larity of  the  place  with  the  men.  After  the  meal  there  was  the  long 
room  just  across  the  hall  where  a  cheery  fire  burning  on  the  hearth 
might  dry  one's  feet,  where  the  phonograph  might  cheer  one's 
drooping  spirits,  where  books  and  papers  helped  one  to  remember 

2Z 


that  a  world  did  exist  beyond  the  stretch  of  mud  and  where 
a  number  of  pleasant  things  might  happen  in  the  course  of  the 
evening — a  hastily  organized  dance,  or  an  impromptu  fudge  party, 
or  just  a  bit  of  conversation  with  some  American  girl.  The  house 
was  anything  but  luxurious,  yet  no  place  could  have  been  more 
appreciated.  *\Oh,  it  is  a  joy  just  to  sit  and  look  at  your  lovely 
cretonne  curtams,"  remarked  one  man  with  tears  in  his  eyes. 
"Now  I  can  write  a  letter  home  to  my  mother,  the  kind  of  a  letter 
T  can  send.  It  is  so  homelike  here  I  can  think  of  something  to  say," 
was  another  man's  comment.  "Now  that  I  have  this  place  to 
come  to,  I  never  think  of  going  out  to  carouse."  The  Army  was 
equally  appreciative.  "You  have  no  idea  what  this  means  to  the 
Second  Army,"  said  a  colonel.  How  to  care  properly  for  these 
women  has  been  a  great  worry  to  us.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  render- 
ing a  magnificent  service  to  our  Army."  An  American  woman 
trained  in  social  work  who  visited  the  Toul  Hostess  House  ex- 
pres^d  her  praise  in  one  telling  sentence :  "You  meet  the  situa- 
tion.M 

Tne  Toul  Hostess  House  was  open  until  June,  1919.  "If  I  only 
had  my  mother  here,  I  would  never  want  to  leave,"  one  man  had 
remarked.  But  the  day  came  for  leaving  and  the  hour  came  for 
closing  the  Toul  Hostess  House.  It  was  estimated  that  an  average 
of  500  meals  a  day  were  served,  from  November  to  January, ;  350 
from  January  to  April,  and  200  from  April  to  June.  An  average  of 
500  men,  half  of  them  officers,  had  used  the  house  between  Novem- 
ber and  January,  and  300  men,  a  third  of  them  officers,  between 
January  and  June.  Of  the  women  who  made  use  of  the  House, 
about  three-fourths  were  Army  nurses  and  one-fourth  Red  Cross 
and  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

At  Neufchateau  a  Hostess  House  was  opened  in  September,  1918, 
and  was  closed  only  with  the  leaving  of  the  Americans,  many  of 
whom  now  look  back  to  the  hostess  as  the  "town  mother"  who 
made  her  house  a  real  home  in  France.  At  Chaumont  the  Chateau 
La  Gloriette,  formerly  occupied  by  General  Pershing,  was  opened 
as  a  Hostess  House  in  April,  1919.  The  beauty  of  its  surroundings 
as  well  as  its  historic  interest  make  it  a  popular  place  to  visit.  When 
Le  Mans  became  an  American  center  for  troops  awaiting  embarka- 
tion, the  need  for  quarters  for  American  women  was  great.  A 
Hostess  House  was  opened  in  March,  1919 — an  attractive  place 
with  a  superb  garden — and  provided  the  only  accommodations  in 
town  for  women.  The  hotels  were  crowded  with  officers  when 
there  were  sometimes  five  divisions  at  once  in  Le  Mans.  The 
Army's  appreciation  of  the  service  rendered  its  women  workers 
was  shown  in  the  hearty  cooperation  which  furnished  wood,  coal, 
hardware  and  electric  lighting  for  the  new  house  and  never  failed 
to  answer  a  request  for  a  detail  to  do  any  odd  job,  for  a  chauffeur 
or  for  repairs  for  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  car.  The  Le  Mans  Hostess 
House  was  open  during  the  four  months  of  the  concentrated  need, 
furnishing  in  that  time  beds  for  a  number  estimated  at  between 

24 


3,800  and  4,000,  and  meals  for  between  10,000  and  12,000.     It  was 
closed  July  1,  1919. 

When  Nice  was  opened  as  a  leave  area  for  Americans,  it  at  once 
became  the  popular  resort  of  the  south  for  all  Americans  who 
could  beg,  borrow  or  steal  the  time  to  see  something  of  the  lovely 
(Cote  d'Azur.  A  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  who  went  to  Nice  on 
leave  (duly  earned)  was  confronted  by  an  Army  officer  on  prome- 
nade who  demanded  her  reasons  for  being  there  without  bringing 
a  Hostess  House  in  her  pocket.  A  resort  full  of  Americans  called 
for  a  Hostess  House,  to  his  mind.  As  a  result  of  the  conversation, 
a  Hostess  House  was  started  in  April,  1919,  and  operated  until 
Nice  was  closed  as  a  leave  area. 

With  the  movement  of  the  Army  into  Germany,  there  was  a 
further  extension  of  Hostess  Houses.  Coblenz  became  the  Ameri- 
can center.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  soon  on  the  grounds  and  in 
February,  1919,  took  over  a  hotel  with  a  large  per  cent  of  its  per- 
sonnel from  the  German  cook  in  the  kitchen  to  the  German  orches- 
tra which  played  afternoon  and  evening.  An  American  Colonel 
discovering  the  transformation  from  hotel  to  Hostess  House  ex- 
claimed, "But  you  spoiled  the  best  saloon  in  Coblenz."  The 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  smiled  and  bided  her  time,  filling  the  Hostess 
House  so  full  of  the  usual  activities,  home  atmosphere  and  good 
cheer  that  in  due  course  the  Colonel  returned  to  say,  "Yes.  you 
have  spoiled  the  best  saloon  in  Coblenz,  but  if  you  can  create  som- 
thing  like  this,  I  am  willing  you  should  spoil  a  saloon  wherever 
you  find  one."  The  popularity  of  the  Coblenz  Hostess  House  was 
in  proportion  to  the  long  lines  that  waited  before  the  doors  of  the 
dining  room  at  mealtime  and  extended  sometimes  far  out  into  the 
street.    An  average  of  forty  women  a  day  were  lodged. 

The  Coblenz  Hostess  House  will  continue  in  existence  as  long  as 
the  Army  of  Occupation  stays  on  the  Rhine.  The  report  for  the 
quarter  ending  March  31,  1920,  begins:  'Tn  spite  of  floods  along 
the  Rhine,  spectacular  rise  and  fall  of  the  money  exchange,  revolu- 
tions in  interior  Germany,  the  failure  of  the  Peace  Treaty,  the  inva- 
sion of  nearby  neutral  territory  by  German  national  troops  and  the 
threatened  advance  of  the  French,  life  at  Coblenz  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  American  Army  has  remained  quiet  and  peaceful 
and  the  Hostess  House  has  continued  to  function  as  in  normal 
times."  During  the  first  three  months  of  1920  the  Hostess  House 
furnished  a  total  of  5,934  billets  and  20,753  meals  or  refreshments. 
Coblenz,  like  every  other  war  city  was  crowded  to  the  limit.  The 
Army  kept  closer  control  of  the  billeting  than  formerly.  All  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  women  and  Red  Cross  women  working  in  Coblenz  were 
billeted  at  the  Hostess  House  which  was  allowed  to  take  no  guests 
without  the  permission  of  the  Army  except  in  the  case  of  women 
arriving  on  late  trains  after  the  closing  of  the  Army  offices.  There 
was  room  for  a  few  transients  including  a  group  of  American 
women  refugees  from  Berlin  at  the  time  of  the  revolution.  The 
Hostess  House,  always  an  American  gathering  place,  became  the 
center  of  many  activities:  dances  twice  a  month,  one  for  enlisted 

25 


men  and  one  for  officers ;  moving  pictures  once  a  week  operated 
by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  the  hotel  ballroom;  luncheons,  teas,  dinners, 
even  wedding  receptions.  With  its  growing,  desire  to  meet  the 
situation,  the  Hostess  House  was  continually  enlarging  its  useful- 
ness. '  *!  J 

Another  small  Hostess  House  was  opened  in  Germany  at 
Neuenahr  in  May,  1919,  and  served  for  the  short  period  that 
Neuenahr  was  used  as  a  leave  area.  During  the  six  weeks  of  its 
existence,  it  housed  many  entertainers  who  came  to  give  a  program 
for  the  boys  on  leave.  Women  of  the  Third  Army  also  came  on 
leave  and  enjoyed  tennis,  riding,  mineral  baths  and  beauties  of 
nature.    The  men  came  too  in  large  numbers  and  a  few  officers. 

Two  small  efforts  at  carrying  the  Hostess  House  spirit  into  bar- 
racks were  made.  One  was  at  Beaune  (near  Dijon)  where  the 
University  of  Beaune  was  giving  courses  for  members  of  the 
A.  E.  F.  For  a  very  short  time  in  the  early  summer  of  1919  this  small 
bit  of  Hostess  House  activity  was  carried  on.  A  request  had  also 
come  from  Dijon,  where  Americans  were  constantly  passing 
through  on  business  or  sightseeing  bent,  for  a  Hostess  House,  but 
with  the  many  demands  made  upon  the  Hostess  House  Depart- 
ment already,  it  could  not  be  granted  before  the  day  of  need  was 
over.  The  second  "Barrack  Hostess  House"  was  at  Reims.  With 
the  coming  of  the  spring  of  1919  the  number  of  sightseeing  expedi- 
tions of  American  war  workers  increased.  Who  could  think  of 
leaving  for  America  without  having  seen  the  pathetic  beauty  of 
the  Reims  Cathedral,  magnificent  still  in  its  war-worn  state?  Many 
nurses  and  other  American  women  war  workers  were  in  the  parties 
that  came  through  for  a  day  or  several  days,  often  taking  the  night 
train  from  Paris  (to  save  a  little  time)  which  arrived  around  mid- 
night. And  midnight  in  a  devastated  town  with  only  crippled 
service  at  best  for  lodging  transients  meant  no  place  to  go  amid 
the  ruins.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  established  a  center  in  Reims.  Across 
from  the  railroad  station,  itself  an  example  of  the  German  target 
practice,  was  a  park  which  had  become  the  American  camp.  Bar- 
racks and  tents  had  called  forth  the  exclamation,  "It  is  just  like  an 
American  camp  meeting  or  a  Chautauqua."  On  the  fifth  of  May 
the  Blue  Triangle  was  raised  over  one  of  these  barracks,  and  a 
large  Hostess  House  spirit,  with  small  Hostess  House  facilities,  was 
put  at  the  service  of  each  American  woman  comer.  Giving  inform- 
ation on  the  history  of  Reims  before,  during,  and  after,  the  war, 
cheering  and  refreshing  tired  sightseers  depressed  from  their  walks 
through  endless  streets  of  shattered  buildings,  explaining  to  French 
inquirers  the  reason  for  the  presence  of  Americans  there  and  some- 
thing of  the  spipit  of  their  work — these  were  the  tasks  of  the  secre- 
tary in  charge,  u^lie  fact  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  also  at  work  in 
Reims  helping  French  girls  to  reconstruct  their  lives  as  they  slowly 
reconstructed  their  town  gave  to  many,  American  and  French,  a 
new  understanding  of  the  breadth  of  the  Blue  Triangle  woffij  One 
American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  man  left  100  francs  for  use  in  giving-prcasure 
to  the  little  girls  of  Reims,  a  gift  which  was  appreciated  at  the 
Foyer.    The  Hostess  Hut  at  Reims  was  kept  open  from  May  5  to 

26 


July  31,  1919,  and  in  that  time  entertained  2,700  different  war  work- 
ers, 604  of  them  occupying  the  cots  provided  there.  The  rustic 
accommodations  were  none  the  less  appreciated  because  of  their 
rusticity.  One  American  woman  who  had  been  working  for  a  long 
time  alone  with  a  small  group  of  French  soldiers  in  a  place  in 
Belgium  spent  much  time  at  the  Hut.  It  was  not  so  much  Reims 
and  its  surroundings  that  she  cared  to  see  as  some  real  Americans. 

By  August  1,  1919,  most  of  the  Hostess  Houses  were  closed.  Out 
of  the  nineteen  that  had  furnished  lodging,  food  and  entertainment 
to  members  of  'the  A.  E.  F.  in  France  and  the  occupied  area,  there 
remained  the  three  Hostess  Houses  in  Paris,  two  in  Brest  and  one 
in  Coblenz.  The  demand  for  rooms  for  American  women  was 
gradually  decreasing.  The  women  themselves  were  going  home. 
Only  a  few  Houses,  therefore,  were  kept  open  to  serve  at  points  of 
concentration  as  long  as  the  need  continued.  The  Hostess  Houses 
in  Brest  were  closed  when  the  port  closed.  In  Paris,  Hotel  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  was  given  up  when  the  lease  expired  in  December, 
1919.     Hotel  Palais  Royal  was  run  until  April,  1920. 

It  was  fitting  that  the  Hotel  Petrograd,  the  Pioneer  Hostess 
House,  should  emerge  into  a  peace  time  organization.  At  the  time 
of  the  expiration  of  the  lease  of  the  building,  Paris  was  in  such 
throes  of  resettling  herself  after  the  war  emergency  that  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  wishing  to  help  in  the  process,  found  advisable  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  American  Women's  Club.  Hotel  Petrograd  was  kept  as 
the  center  for  the  club — kept  but  transformed.  The  old  and  hon- 
orable rooms,  which  had  served  so  faithfully  during  war  days,  in 
their  old  worn  French  dress  of  patterned  carpets  and  dark  red 
furniture  smothered  with  plush,  deserved  some  freshening  up.  A 
dexterous  use  of  bright  cretonnes,  plain  dark  carpeting,  fresh  paper, 
combined  with  a  reassembling  of  furniture  following  a  rule  of  har- 
mony, wrought  a  transformation  which  was  complete  when  the 
throngs  of  American  women  came  to  fill  the  rooms  with  an  atmos- 
phere of  lightness  and  gayety  enhanced  by  every  style  of  Paris 
gQwn.  "A  ladylike  affair  now,"  one  of  the  secretaries  described  it. 
**The  day  of  single  war  workers  is  truly  over,  for  now  the  compo- 
sition of  the  dining  room  is  society  folk,  quite !  American  ladies  all 
dressed  up  in  Paris  style,  some  of  them,  and  gentlemen  of  the 
diplomatic  corps — no  interesting  insignia  to  say  where  they  have 
been  lately — and  a  uniform  is  quite  an  unusual  sight.  Such  are  the 
ravages  of  time!"  The  secretary  was  not  deploring  peace,  not  she, 
who  had  seen  the  worst  of  the  war  days  at  that  same  Hotel  Petro- 
grad. But  life  had  been  interesting  in  those  days!  It  was  fast 
taking  on  a  new  interest  now.  The  history  of  the  Hotel  Petrograd 
as  an  American  Women's  Club  promised  a  career  of  usefulness — 
not  as  excitingly  useful  as  the  Hostess  House  perhaps,  but  peace- 
fully useful,  with  a  purpose  of  reconstruction.  Tired  of  uniforms 
and  of  war  work  the  American  women  of  Paris  were  eager  to  help 
meet  the  needs  they  saw  all  about  them  through  normal  channels. 
Not  content  to  settle  into  lives  of  ease  and  self-seeking,  they  wel- 

27 


corned  the  opportunity  to  aid  a  great  movement  in  making  possible 
better  lives  for  women  everywhere. 

The  opening  of  the  club  was  informal,  preceded  by  announce- 
ments in  newspapers  and  church  calendars,  by  special  notices  to  all 
welfare  workers  and  by  notices  to  the  American  Embassy  and 
American  Consulate.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  were  present  in 
their  uniforms.  An  orchestra  played  while  visitors  inspected  the 
building  from  eight  to  ten  on  the  evening  of  October  17,  1919.  The 
visitors  included  Generals,  Colonels,  Majors  and  Captains,  most  of 
them  with  their  families,  and  many  war  workers,  as  well  as  the 
civilian  Americans  of  Paris.  The  activities  of  the  club  were  in 
many  respects  a  continuation  of  the  Hostess  House  work  of  war 
days  from  many  angles.  The  object,  as  stated  in  the  announce- 
ment, was  "to  cultivate  social  intercourse  among  American  women 
resident  and  traveling  in  Europe.  It  offers  special  hospitality  to 
those  making  a  pilgrimage  to  the  land  hallowed  by  the  brave  deeds 
of  their  fallen  loved  ones,  supplying  guides  and  interpreters  and  all 
necessary  information  to  aid  them  on  their  journey.  The  many 
American  war  workers  who  have  enjoyed  the  home  comforts  of 
this  hotel  as  the  Hostess  House  of  Paris  will  find  the  same  warm 
welcome  extended  to  them  and  to  their  friends  by  the  new  club.  It 
is  earnestly  hoped  that  with  the  afifiliation  of  other  societies  and  the 
close  cooperation  of  all  American  women,  this  will  be  the  starting 
point  for  a  greater  development  of  the  club." 

The  hotel  still  offered  lodging  to  women,  the  dining  rooms,  tea 
rooms,  reading,  writing  and  rest  rooms  were  still  open  to  men  and 
women,  and  the  salons  were  better  arranged  than  ever  for  meetings, 
both  large  and  small.  T!ie  Information  Bureau  helped  travelers 
en  route  to  the  battlefields,  the  cemeteries  or  the  devasted  regions. 
It  was  an  aid  to  shoppers,  women  out  of  work,  or  women  stranded 
and  alone  in  Paris.  The  minister  of  one  of  the  American  churches 
in  Paris  said  that  whenever  he  did  not  know  to  whom  else  to  turn 
he  called  upon  the  American  Women's  Club. 

The  club  was  sponsored  by  a  committee  of  American  women  liv- 
ing in  Paris.  An  Executive  Committee  composed  of  the  President, 
the  Chairman  of  each  section,  and  certain  selected  members,  met 
monthly  to  transact  business.  A  Sub-Committee  represented  the 
work  of  the  different  sections.  The  interest  and  activities  of  the 
club  increased  through  the  winter  of  1930  and  gave  promise  of  even 
larger  usefulness  in  the  future. 

The  American  Women's  Club  might  be  pointed  to  as  the  one 
tangible,  permanent  outgrowth  of  the  Hostess  Houses  in  France, 
but  there  have  been  many  results — intangible  but  real — of  Hostess 
House  activity.  The  Hostess  House  idea  originated  with  the  war. 
It  was  more  than  an  adaptation  of  Association  housing  work  to 
war  conditions ;  it  was  a  movement  separate  and  distinct  for  meet- 
ing situations  as  they  existed  without  any  hampering  restraints,  of 
tradition,  previous  work  or  policy.  The  whole  story  as  summed  up 
in  the  comment,  ''You  meet  the  situation,"  described  an  organiza- 
tion back  of  the  Hostess  House  movement  not  only  finely  organ- 

28 


ized  but  so  adaptable  and  so  broadminded  as  to  be  able  to  work 
in  untried  fields  and  even  to  penetrate  unblazed  forests  of  expe- 
rience. 

One  newspaper  woman  tells  how  her  idea  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
grew  when  she  saw  the  w^ork  in  Europe:  "My  only  idea  of  the 
Association  for  years  was  a  sort  of  picture  of  a  poor,  frightened 
girl  alone  in  a  big  city  going  to  a  cold  and  bare  building  to  be  told 
she  couldn't  be  sheltered  even  for  a  night  without  a  letter  from  her 
pastor !  The  picture  formed  itself  in  my  mind  from  some  account 
I  had  heard  of  letters  from  pastors  being  necessary  to  get  into 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  places.  My  next  experience  was  in  the  big  New  York 
Cafeteria  on  35th  Street  West.  That  was  my  own  experience  and 
it  was  good.  Then  the  war.  Then  seeing  such  perfectly  topping 
girls  in  the  best  looking  uniform  any  organization  has,  wondering 
if  they  were  a  branch  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  since  there  was  a  triangle 
and  W  looks  life  M  if  you  don't  think  of  it.  Suddenly  it  was  borne 
upon  me  that  here  were  tliese  women  I  had  always  associated  with 
pastor's  letters  and  cold  bare  buildings.  They  didn't  look  like 
either.  They  were  pretty  and  very  human  and  very  cordial.  And 
then  I  happened  in  upon  the  Hostess  House,  the  Hotel  Petrograd, 
of  which  I  have  been  already  writing  with  high  enthusiasm.  And 
why  shouldn't  I  be,  as  the  Irish  say,  when  they  give  you  such  won- 
derful good  eats,  beaucoup,  etc.,  in  Army  language,  do  it  reasonably 
and  attractively  and  "break  even"?  But  still  I  didn't  know  what 
it  really  stood  for  until  I  went  to  meet  someone  in  the  Headquarters 
Office  of  the  Association.  Tea  was  being  served.  It  was  being 
cordially  served  and  a  terribly  nice  girl  waited  on  me  in  a  friendly 
way  not  just  "Here's  your  tea,  old  lady,"  somewhat  sort  of  air  in 
doing  it.  In  fact  she  sat  down  and  began  to  talk  to  me  and  turned 
out  to  be  one  of  the  Philippine  people,  daughter  of  an  Army  officer 
who  had  been  out  there  for  nine  years  in  all.  You  get  cordial  hand- 
clasps from  Y.  W.  C.  A.'ers.  I  have  yet  to  find  a  real  disagreeable 
woman  wearing  the  cadet  blue  uniform.  Such  were  some  of  the 
comments  that  came  in  to  cheer  these  "women  of  the  cordial  hand- 
clasps." But  the  way  was  not  all  paved  with  such  encouragement. 
There  was  criticism  as  well  since  the  human  element  had  to  enter 
in,  but  so  much  the  more  honor  to  the  secretaries  who  bore  the 
brunt  of  it,  came  out  on  top  and  were  able  to  complete  the  story 
of  the  Hostess  Houses  in  France  with  flying  colors. 

Signal  Corps 

In  March,  1918,  an  emergency  request  came  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
in  France  from  the  Signal  Corps  of  the  A.  E.  F.  to  provide  for  the 
housing  and  care  of  thirty-seven  Signal  Corps  girls  who  were  then 
OIL  their  way  to  operate  the  American  telephone  lines  in  France. 
(Jhns  began  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  Signal  Corps  girls. 
Since  the  Army  required  the  girls  in  a  single  unit  to  live  together, 
it  was  not  only  convenient  but  very  advisable  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
should  take  the  supervision  providing  a  secretary  to  live  with  the 
unit,  her  duties  to  be  general  management  of  the  billets,  initiating 

29 


a  social  program,  chaperoning  at  social  functions,  submitting 
reports  covering  the  general  administration  of  the  billet  whenever 
requested  by  the  Signal  Corps  officer  in  charge,  supervsing  the 
general  physical  Avelfare  of  the  operating  force  and  suggesting 
plans  for  improving  matters  affecting  the  general  welfare  of  the 
operating  foixeT^i 

This  first  group  of  thirty-seven  who  arrived  in  Paris,  March, 
1918,  were  divided  into  three  units.  One  unit  went  to  Chaumont. 
Here  the  first  Signal  Corps  House  was  opened  in  April,  1918,  which 
was  the  general  headquarters  of  the  A.  E.  F.  A  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secre- 
tary had  preceded  the  unit,  secured  a  residence  which  was  ready  to 
receive  them  when  they  arrived.  The  attractiveness  of  the  house 
with  its  bright  dining  room,  spacious  salons  and  ample  accommo- 
dations as  well  as  its  American  bathtubs  (previously  furnished  by 
a  group  of  officers  for  their  club)  made  the  life  of  the  telephone 
girls  at  the  important  post  of  Chaumont  homelike  and  restful. 
Quiet  evenings  by  the  fire  with  a  few  friends  invited  in,  or  family 
afternoon  teas,  were  as  much  enjoyed  as  the  gayer  parties.  This 
house  continued  its  work  as  long  as  there  remained  a  unit  of  the 
Signal  Corps  in  Chaumont,  which  was  until  July,  1919.  That  the 
members  of  the  Signal  Corps  appreciated  this  home  is  shown  by  a 
letter  to  the  secretary :  *T  want  you  please  to  tell  the  Towers  that 
Be'  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  at  Paris  that  every  single  one  of  us  girls 
here  at  G.  H.  Q.  sends  her  thanks  for  being  so  very  good  to  us. 
Our  House  is  so  well  organized  that  I  (written  by  the  Chief  Oper- 
ator and  head  of  the  unit)  no  longer  have  a  thing  to  do  and  that 
we  all  want  to  come  home  rather  than  to  puddle  through  the  mud 
to  avoid  the  House." 

The  second  unit  remained  in  Paris  staying  for  a  time  at  the  Hotel 
Petrograd  until  a  hotel  was  taken  for  the  exclusive  use  of  those 
stationed  in  Paris.  This  was  the  Hotel  Ferras  opened  in  May, 
1918.  The  third  unit  was  sent  to  Tours,  the  Headquarters  of  the 
Service  of  Supply  of  the  A.  E.  F.,  where  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  on 
short  notice  made  preparations  for  their  reception.  The  Tours 
House  and  a  House  at  Langres  were  opened  in  May,  1918.  From 
March  until  August,  1918,  five  more  units  came,  making  a  total 
number  of  223  Signal  Corps  girls  in  France.  The  Army  continued 
to  ask  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.'s  help  and  new  households  were  established 
in  the  base  ports — at  St.  Nazaire,  Brest,  Le  Havre — in  July.  In 
August,  a  House  was  opened  at  Lignet.  In  September,  Bordeaux, 
Neufchateau  and  Souilly  saw  units  established.  Souilly  being  in 
the  advance  section  at  that  time  was  subject  to  fluctuations  as  the 
dangers  of  war  advanced  or  retreated.  The  unit  at  Souilly  was 
moved  to  Bar-sur-Aube  for  a  week.  A  unit  was  established  in 
Nevers  in  October,  1918,  and  one  in  Toul  in  November. 

Then  came  the  Armistice.  Although  the  telephone  service  had 
less  emergency  value  than  it  had  had  during  the  time  that  the  issue 
of  the  battle  might  depend  upon  the  proper  message  getting 
through,  the  need  for  expert  American  operators  continued  as  long 
as  the  Army  was  in  France.    Great  was  the  relief  to  any  American 

30 


struggling  with  the  intricacies  of  French  over  the  intrepid  wires  of 
the  French  telephone  to  find  himself  suddenly  switched  to  an  Amer- 
ican line  and  to  have  an  American  operator  who  spoke  English  and 
French  equally  well  put  through  his  call  with  despatch.  Only  one 
who  had  so  struggled  and  so  found  relief  to  fretted  nerves  could 
rightly  appreciate  the  presence  in  France  of  American  operators. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  opened  quarters  for  a  new  unit  in  Paris,  December 
5,  1918,  at  Hotel  Trianon  in  the  Cite  Bergere,  a  remote  section  of 
Paris  which  hardly  knew  whether  to  be  startled  or  amused  by  the 
doings  of  "all  those  American  girls"  who  went  in  and  out  of  the 
Trianon. 

With  the  advance  of  the  Army  into  Germany  the  Signal  Corps 
girls  also  went  forward.  A  House  was  opened  at  Treves,  Decem- 
ber 11,  1918,  and  one  at  Coblenz,  January  1,  1919.  The  line  of  the 
Signal  Corps  was  thus  extended  from  the  base  ports  to  the  Rhine 
with  such  important  centers  as  Hotel  Crillon,  Paris,  Headquarters 
of  the  Peace  Conference.  The  girls  who  had  returned  from  work 
at  the  front  with  the  First  Army,  where  the  inconveniences  of 
living  were  only  exceeded  by  the  cold,  the  dreariness  and  the 
dangers,  were  delighted  to  find  themselves  housed  warmly  and 
comfortably  once  more.  Those  assigned  to  one  of  the  Paris  Signal 
Corps  houses  with  hot  baths  at  their  command,  said  it  seemed  too 
good  to  be  true.  The  girls  in  Paris  at  this  strategic  time  for  mak- 
ing history  numbered  eighty-four.  "About  half  of  our  household," 
writes  one  of  the  secretaries  in  her  report,  "motors  out  every  morn- 
ing in  a  big  Army  truck  to  La  Belle  Epine,  a  place  about  eleven 
miles  beyond  the  city  walls  where  the  American's  long  distance 
exchange  is  located.  They  have  lunch  at  a  funny  little  inn  at  the 
cross-roads  and  come  back  at  night  tired  and  hungry  and  some- 
times wet  but  always  in  the  most  glorious  spirits.  The  other  girls 
are  attached  to  the  exchange  at  the  Hotel  Crillon  and  I  feel  as  if 
history  were  truly  in  the  making  when  I  hear  them  say  at  lunch, 
'Colonel  House's  line  was  very  busy  this  morning,'  or  'The  Presi- 
dent did  not  put  in  a  call  today.'"  Most  of  the  Signal  Corps  Houses 
buzzed  with  activities  and  social  doings  enough  to  fill  every  min- 
ute of  the  operators  time  off  duty.  Dances  and  parties  were  the 
order  of  the  evening.  It  was  not  unusual  to  have  truck  after  truck 
call  at  the  door  of  the  House  (especially  if  it  were  located  in  an 
embarkation  port  where  many  thousands  were  awaiting  sailing) 
and  plead  for  girls  to  come  to  a  dance,  transportation  furnished. 
"But  you  would  not  turn  down  the  boys  for  an  officers'  dance," 
some  big  boyish  soldier  would  explain  when  told  the  household 
was  engaged  for  the  evening.  He  dared  not  face  the  disappoint- 
ment of  his  group  when  he  returned  with  an  empty  truck.  Thus 
the  girls  of  the  Signal  Corps  were  kept  busy  not  only  on  the  wires 
but  on  the  wing  from  one  activity  to  another  as  long  as  they  stayed 
in  France. 

The  Signal  Corps  centers  began  to  close  soon  after  the  Armis- 
tice. Lignet,  Langres,  Nevers,  LeHavre,  Souilly,  Toul  and  Treves 
were  closed  very  soon.     In   May,   1919,  there  were  nine  Houses 

31 


open  with  ten  secretaries  assigned  :  Chaumont  served  twenty  girls ; 
Hotel  Ferras,  Paris,  thirty-six  girls;  Hotel  Trianon,  Paris,  thirty 
Signal  Corps  girls  and  four  Quartermaster  girls;  Central  Hotel, 
Tours  in  addition  to  housing  Signal  Corps  girls,  had  twelve  Quar- 
termaster girls,  twenty-nine  Ordnance  girls,  thirteen  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  Red  Cross  and  twenty-two  transients  at  night,  making  it  dis- 
tinctly an  Army  Hotel  under  Y.  W.  C.  A.  management.  At  that 
time  (May,  1919)  there  were  eleven  Signal  Corps  girls  housed  at 
Brest ;  eleven  at  St.  Nazaire ;  thirteen  at  Bordeaux ;  fifteen  at  Neuf- 
chateau  and  fourteen  at  Coblenz.  By  the  end  of  the  summer,  1919, 
the  Signal  Corps  Houses  had  been  closed  with  the  exception  of  one 
in  Brest  and  Hotel  Trianon  in  Paris,  which  closed  early  in  the  fall. 

Even  before  the  end  of  the  work  of  the  Signal  Corps  girls  in 
France,  the  Army  had  sent  its  letter  of  appreciation  to  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  for  the  help  rendered  in  housing  the  units.  To  quote  from 
the  letter:  "The  experiment  of  employing  American  women  here 
was  first  tried  by  the  Signal  Corps  and  although  at  the  time  the 
matter  was  proposed  we  realized  the  tremendous  responsibility  that 
devolved  upon  us  by  such  a  movement,  it  is  most  gratifying  to  have 
found  that  difficulties  with  which  we  expected  to  be  confm^ted 
have  been  eliminated  through  your  excellent  cooperation,  (^^st 
efficient  service  has  been  rendered  by  these  young  women  and  the 
high  standard  of  their  efficiency  is  due  in  no  small  part  to  the 
efforts  of  your  Association  in  arranging  living  conditions  for  them 
as  nearly  as  possible  like  those  to  which  they  were  accustomed  at 
hom'e.**r\The  personnel  of  the  Signal  Corps  units  had  varied  as 
greatly^as  that  of  any  group  sent  to  France.  A  number  of  them 
were  college  graduates  representing  colleges  as  widely  different  as 
Smith,  University  of  California,  Randolph-Macon  and  Dennison, 
Others  were  American  girls  of  French  parentage,  which  accounted 
for  their  ability  with  the  language,  and  had  been  brought  up  in  con- 
vents. Some  were  without  wide  experience,  others  had  broad 
funds  of  experience  to  draw  from.  With  such  variety  in  the  units, 
the  wonder  was  that  so  harmonious  a  group  spirit  was  developed. 
For  this  spirit  the  secretaries  were  in  no  small  way  responsible. 
Where  they  had  the  able  assistance  of  the  Chief  Operator  much 
could  be  accomplished.  Many  were  the  difficult  situations  due  to 
war  vicissitudes  in  which  the  Signal  Corps  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
secretary  found  themselves,  yet  large  has  been  the  outcome  in 
friendship  and  pleasant  memories  of  comradeship  together  which 
has  been  produced  in  the  Houses  of  the  Signal  Corps. 

Waac  Clubs 

Among  the  women  engaged  in  war  work  in  France  were  the 
British  WAACS,  mobilized  as  the  Woman's  Army  Auxiliary  Corps 
to  do  clerical  and  various  other  kinds  of  work  in  direct  connection 
with  the  British  Army.  The  name  was  later  changed  to  Queen 
Mary's  Army  Auxiliary  Corps,  but  the  familiar  name  of  WAAC 
continued  to  stick  to  them.  In  July,  1918,  a  contingent  of  WAACS 
was    loaned   by   the    British    Government   to   the  -American   Govern- 

32 


ment  to  do  clerical  work  in  connection  with  the  Central  Records 
office  of  the  A.  E.  F.  This  office  compiled  all  statistics  and  kept 
card  catalog  files  containing  the  name,  address  and  skeleton  life 
history  of  every  American  soldier  in  France.  The  service  of  the 
WAACS  in  connection  with  such  a  bureau  was  desired  not  only 
for  its  efficiency  but  also  to  release  many  men  doing  clerical  work 
for  service  at  the  front. 

The  WAACS,  many  of  them,  were  already  seasoned  veterans  of 
war.  Over  50,000  of  them,  women  and  girls  from  eighteen  years  of 
age  up,  recruited  from  every  possible  walk  of  life,  out  of  all  kinds 
of  homes,  had  been  serving  the  British  Army  as  cooks,  waitresses, 
laundresses,  munition  workers,  clerical  helpers ;  in  fact,  in  every 
kind  of  position  left  vacant  by  men.  They  had  seen  hard  service 
in  England,  had  faced  dangerous  days  in  France,  sometimes  work- 
ing under  shell  fire  and  had  come  out  splendid  warriors.  With  the 
American  Army  their  service  was  clerical  only,  except  in  the  case 
of  household  workers  needed  to  run  their  own  camp. 

The  first  group  of  WAACS  were  stationed  by  the|  American 
Army  at  Tours,  and  when  they  reached  their  camp  a  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
secretary  was  there  to  meet  them  with  preparations  for  their  camp 
life  begun.  As  the  one  unofficial  person  on  the  grounds,  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  representative  was  there  to  do  for  the  WAACS  what 
had  been  done  for  other  women  in  France,  to  make  them  feel  at 
home  with  the  Americans,  to  supervise  the  social  life,  furnishing 
recreation  and  entertainments,  educational  classes  and  religious 
service  when  desired.  The  relationship  was  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Army.  The  secretary's  one  desire 
was  to  help  the  women  and  meet  a  need  whenever  and  wherever 
she  was  wanted. 

The  WAACS  arrived  in  small  groups,  and  by  the  end  of  July, 
1918,  the  total  number  with  the  A.  E.  F.  was  350.  Their  organiza- 
tion was  like  that  of  the  Army — officers  and  privates  with  the  lines 
drawn  as  sharply  as  among  the  men.  All  wore  uniforms,  the  offi- 
cer's uniform  distinctive  with  the  insignia  of  her  rank,  the  private's 
a  comfortable  working  dress  and  small  hat  with  insignia  and  abso- 
lute conformity  to  regulations.  Salutes  were  expected  and  re- 
ceived. The  discipline  followed  Army  lines  and  was  enforced  in 
the  highest  degree.  The  adaptability  of  these  British  women  to 
such  a  life  had  proved  their  worth  to  the  Army  and  was  responsi- 
ble for  the  demand  for  their  services.  The  American  Army  ex- 
pected as  the  war  continued  to  employ  a  full  5,000  WAACS,  but 
fortunately  the  Armistice  curtailed  the  need,  and  the  number  never 
reached  over  600. 

At  Tours  the  camp  was  located  three  miles  out  of  town  with  no 
convenient  method  of  transportation.  One  of  the  first  programs 
arranged  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  a  series  of  talks  by  a  well 
informed  newspaper  man  on  the  history  and  sightseeing  in  Tours. 
Over  eighty  girls  attended  the  first  talk.  The  second  came 
on  a  hot  night  when  there  was  much  illness  in  the  camp  but  was 
attended  by  nearly  fifty.    On  Sunday  afternoon,  July  21,  1918,  the 

33 


secretary  arranged  for  an  afternoon  to  be  spent  at  the  "Island," 
the  summer  recreation  grounds  rented  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  all 
of  its  work  in  Tours.  Here  the  WAACS  made  themselves  very 
much  at  home,  enjoying  the  beauty  of  the  spot,  resting  on  the 
grass,  v^^atching  the  river  v^hich  cut  them  off  so  entirely  from  the 
bustle  of  the  city,  and  enjoying  their  afternoon  tea.  After  that 
many  girls  went  regularly  to  spend  their  Sunday  afternoons  at  the 
"Island."  On  July  22  Mrs.  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  was  the  guest  of 
the  WAAC  officers  and  gave  the  WAACS  a  popular  literary  pro- 
gram after  dinner. 

With  the  first  of  September  the  Central  Records  Office  was 
moved  to  Bourges,  accompanied  by  the  WAACS,  who  had  reached 
the  number  of  400.  One  side  of  the  big  Army  camp  was  given  up 
for  WAAC  quarters.  Here  the  WAACS  lived  in  huts  arranged 
like  barracks  with  one  or  two  huts  reserved  for  special  uses,  such  as  so- 
cial good  times,  religious  services,  a  small  "quiet"  room,  etc.  Eventu- 
ally a  canteen  was  opened,  a  place  where  the  girls  could  enjoy  the 
privileges  of  American  commissary  rates  and  supplied  all  sorts  of 
wants  and  where  afternoon  tea  was  served  in  a  small  room  attrac- 
tively decorated  for  the  purpose.  The  canteen  did  a  thriving  busi- 
ness. It  seemed  presumptious  at  first  to  an  American  secretary  to 
dare  to  serve  British  girls  with  tea,  that  one  article  on  which  they 
were  all  connoisseurs,  but  a  little  practice  brought  results  which 
showed  that  the  tea  had  touched  the  right  spot  in  the  hearts  of 
these  true  Britishers.  "It  is  simply  topping,  ma'am,"  from  a 
WAAC,  who  had  come  through  rain  and  mud  from  the  office  bar- 
racks to  enjoy  her  afternoon  cup,  was  a  reward  sufficient  for  all 
eflfort  expended. 

So  much  had  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  been  appreciated  by 
the  WAACS  that  under  the  secretary's  careful  supervision  they 
had  organized  what  took  on  much  the  appearance  of  an  American 
city  Association.  There  were  committees  and  committee  chairmen 
touching  every  phase  of  camp  activity  and  undertaking  a  pro- 
gram of  work  which  made  life  at  the  camp  most  agreeable.  There 
was  the  Sunshine  Committee  which  met  newcomers,  told  them  of 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A,  club,  visited  the  infirmaries  to  take  to  the  sick 
fruit  or  flowers  bought  from  money  obtained  from  the  little  box 
for  spare  change  which  hung  in  the  mess  room  (the  girls  were 
always  generous  givers).  There  was  a  Sports  Committee.  There 
was  a  Savings  Club.  By  the  end  of  October  over  5^000  francs  had 
been  saved  by  the  girls.  There  were  other  committees  which  had 
to  do  with  recreation,  religious  meetings,  educational  classes^  etc. 
One  of  the  girls,  a  trained  librarian,  attended  to  a  distribution  of 
books  from  the  Camp  Club  Library. 

When  the  Armistice  came,  the  work  of  the  WAACS  was  by  no 
means  ended,  as  the  Central  Records  Bureau  had  before  it  a  vast 
amount  of  work.  The  number  originally  intended  for  the  Ameri- 
can Army,  5,000,  was  not  sent,  however,  about  500  being  the  num- 
ber on  dutv  at  the  time  of  the  Armistice.  A  certain  amount  of 
restlessness  found  its  way  to  the  WAAC  club  as  well  as  every- 

34 


where  else  that  forces  were  mobilized  and  war  weary  workers  be- 
gan to  think  with  new  longings  of  home,  yet  the  discipline  was  not 
interrupted.  Camp  activities  merely  took  on  a  freer  and  lighter 
form  so  that  some  of  the  surplus  energy  that  had  been  spent  in  the 
unconscious  strain  of  the  war  situation  might  now  go  into  play. 
In  November  a  trained  physical  director  came  to  organize  the 
physical  program  in  the  WAAC  camp.  Much  exercise  as  well  as 
sociability  was  gained  in  dancing,  either  at  small  hut  dances  or  at 
large  dances,  which  were  held  in  the  dining  barracks.  The  physical 
program,  however,  was  also  appreciated.  Christmas  was  cele- 
brated at  the  camp  with  proper  festivities.  Dramatics  became  pop- 
ular. "The  Battle  of  Bourges,"  a  light  play,  was  given  by  about 
fifty  WAACS  and  men  from  the  Central  Records  Office.  Seven  day 
leaves  allowed  a  girl  to  return  for  a  brief*  visit  home,  but  in  most 
cases  they  were  glad  to  get  back  to  the  pleasant  camp  life  with  its 
food  so  good  compared  to  the  shortage  in  Great  Britain.  Educa- 
tional classes  thrived,  French  being  the  most  popular.  The 
WAACS  also  gave  some  time  off  duty  to  helping  the  educational 
and  recreational  work  at  the  French  Foyer  des  Alliees  of  Bourges, 
thus  showing  their  genuine  interest  in  their  little  French  neighbors. 

The  whole-hearted  response  of  the  WAACS  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
program  showed  that  they  had  taken  the  secretary  into  the  bosom 
of  the  family.  Though  she  might  dine  with  the  officers,  she  be- 
longed to  them  and  if  in  passing,  she  received  a  voluntary  salute, 
it  was  by  recognition  of  her  quality.  Activities  in  the  WAAC  camp 
continued  as  long  as  the  WAACS  remained  at  work  in  France. 

British  American  Club 

One  other  activity  in  connection  with  the  British  was  carried  on 
by  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  at  Le  Havre.  In  the  summer  of 
1918  there  had  been  great  need  for  a  place  in  which  to  welcome 
American  nurses  and  other  war  workers  newly  come  to  France 
and  to  refresh  other  tired  women  who  found  Le  Havre  a  stopping 
place  on  the  road  between  work  and  home  or  en  route  to  a  new 
position.  In  July,  1918,  a  sercretary  was  sent  by  the  American 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  Le  Havre  to  establish  a  center  if  found  advisable. 
At  the  request  of  the  British  Y.  W.  C.  A.  organizing  secretary, 
she  spent  a  little  time  with  the  English  workers  in  the  only  WAAC 
rest  camp  hut  in  France  where  100  girls  came  for  a  week  at  a  time. 
Thus  she  learned  the  British  needs.  In  November  she  was  able  to 
secure  a  long  hoped  for  location  and  to  establish  a  British  Ameri- 
can Club  in  Le  Havre.  In  the  very  heart  of  the  city  over  a  promi- 
nent cafe,  the  club  opened  its  doors  to  welcome  all  comers.  A 
representative  group  of  English,  Americans,  French,  Belgians, 
Army  people  and  civilians,  were  at  the  opening.  By  January,  1919, 
the  club  showed  an  active  membership  of  over  300,  mostly  tired 
nurses  and  war  workers  who  luxuriated  in  the  quiet  rest,  good  food 
and  attractiveness  of  the  club.  Uncounted  numbers  of  transients 
from  Italy,  Austria,  Switzerland,  Salonica,  Gallipoli,  Palestine, 
India,    Persia,    Mesopotamia,    Egypt,   AustraUa,    South   and    East 

35 


Africa,  passed  through.  Let  them  speak  for  themselves  as  to  the 
value  of  the  club.  "The  first  spot  like  home" ;  "A  haven  of  rest" ; 
''Very  quieting  to  the  nerves,  for  we  are  a  bit  shattered" ;  "Such 
lovely  color  after  so  long" ;  '*So  lovely  to  be  noticed" ;  "First  real 
v^elcome  we  have  received" ;  "So  clean  and  refreshing  after  seven 
weeks  en  route" ;  ''Simply  ideal."  The  most  frequent!  criticism  met 
was  "Perfect  but  opened  four  years  too  late."  About  sixty  allied 
officers  had  a  tea  room  membership.  When  the  secretary  was 
asked  to  report  on  what  kinds  of  entertainment  had  been  most 
popular,  she  replied,  "The  club  was  a  refuge  from  entertainments,  a 
place  of  repose  and  refreshment"— an  interesting  contrast  to  some 
war  workers'  reports.  A  The  Dansante  at  New  Years  was  very 
much  enjoyed,  however,  and  several  Sunday  afternoon  musicals 
were  arranged,  as  well  as  some  dances  after  club  hours,  at  the  club 
rented  for  the  purpose.  The  club  ran  from  November  22,  1918,  to 
May  30,  1919.  "Please  see  that  this  club  is  kept  open  till  the  last 
nurse  has  left  France,"  was  the  suggestion  of  one  nurse  which  the 
club  endeavored  to  follow  in  spirit  if  not  in  letter. 

Foyers  des  Alliees 

One  of  the  three  secretaries  sent  to  France  in  August,  1917,  by 
the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  assigned  exclusively  to  the  study 
of  French  work.  The  situation  among  French  women  was  the 
result  of  three  years  of  war  suffering.  Women  who  had  never 
worked  before  were  now  engaged  in  industry,  women  who  had 
known  only  the  seclusion  of  their  own  homes  and  whose  center  of  in- 
terest had  been  their  own  fireside  and  family  group  were  thrust  rudely 
into  a  world  of  jostling  industrial  conflict.  Those  women  who 
could  remain  at  home  felt  the  strain  of  war  sacrifice  in  the  giving 
up  of  husbands,  sons,  brothers — until  there  was  left  scarcely  a 
woman  in  France  whose  life  was  not  bitterly  changed  through 
war  conditions.  The  women  of  France  are  naturally*  individual- 
istic, holding  high  the  possession  of  quiet  womanliness  centered  in 
home,  of  artistic  sense  nourished  by  love  of  beauty,  of  mental 
alertness  dealing  with  home  economy  expressed  in  habits  of  thrift. 
They  were  not  used  to  thinking  too  much  in  the  large,  or  working 
too  hastily  in  the  mass.  Their  war  experiences  were  not  conducive 
to  their  developing  initiative  along  these  Hues  at  such  a  time.  It 
was  to  the  women  of  France  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  came  as  a  wel- 
come leader  in  a  program  of  activities  which  they  had  neither  the 
heart  nor  inclination  to  undertake  unaided. 

r  The  crying  need  was  among  the  women  working  in  munition 
memories.  In  many  factory  centers  in  France,  these  women  were 
gathered  not  only  from  the  working  classes  but  from  homes,  from 
devastated  regions,  from  the  country  districts  and  from  the  cities, 
the  good  and  the  bad  alike  as  the  world  counts  moraUty,  all  living 
together  in  barracks  like  soldiers,  with  the  barest  necessities  of  life 
and  no  provision  for  recreation,  privacy  or  small  conveniences.  In 
these  factory  centers  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  found  a  place.  Here  it  might 
bring  in  just  the  little  comforts  of  every  day  which  go  so  far  in 


%'i  imh  ^i^  W^ 


n 


making  morale.  Here  in  this  great  stretch  of  barren  dreariness  it 
might  pour  some  of  the  freshness  of  its  life  from  across  the  seas. 
By  providing  one  spot  in  the  midst  of  munition  workers'  barracks 
to  which  the  women  might  come  for  rest,  recreation  and  comforts, 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  would  be  making  its  contribution. 

There  was  no  agency  in  France  doing  this  particular  thing.  A 
committee  of  French  women  were  running  what  were  known  as 
"Foyer  Cantines"  in  one  or  two  places,  not  particularly  for  muni- 
tion workers  but  where  any  working  woman  might  secure  a  good 
meal  for  a  reasonable  sum.  It  was  no  wonder  that  most  French 
women  found  themselves  too  much  absorbed  by  the  work  of  relief 
to  undertake  very  much  of  a  preventive  nature.  The  relief  work 
was  more  immediate  and  appealing.  To  quote  from  the  report  of 
the  secretary  making  the  first  investigation :  "The  wounded  sol- 
dier is  seen  at  every  corner  and  one's  sympathy  is  constantly 
aroused,  but  the  thousands  of  weary  women  toiling  eleven  hours  a 
day  in  the  munition  factories,  traveling  often  an  hour  night  and 
morning,  taking  care  of  their  children  in  addition  to  their  factory 
work,  eating  with  men  at  the  poor  but  expensive  cafes,  are  not  so 
much  in  evidence  and,  therefore,  their  need  is  more  difficult  to 
visualize.  Then  these  women  are  earning  better  wages  than  they 
formerly  did,  perhaps  as  much  as  eight  or  ten  francs  a  day  and 
some  of  them  have  taken  part  in  some  strikes^j^ich  have  occurred, 
and  these  things  have  counted  against  them.f  It  takes  clear  vision 
to  see  that  this  great  group  of  middle  class  woTn^n  is  the  backbone 
of  France  and  the  mothers  of  the  future  French  citizens,  and  that 
if  they  are  broken  physically  and  morally  by  this  unnatural  strain, 
in  the  years  to  come  the  French  population  will  be  too  largely  com- 
posed of  crippled  men,  worn  out  w'omeiTi  and  children  who  have 
been  handicapped  in  their  start  in  life^  One  other  reason  the 
French  had  been  unable  to  carry  on  much  needed  welfare  work  was 
the  lack  of  funds.  After  talks  with  certain  French  women  of  prom- 
inence, interested  in  industrial  questions  and  in  welfare  and  uplift 
for  workers,  and  after  consultation  with  government  officials,  it 
was  decided  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  should  begin  its  industrial  work 
in  the  munition  centers. 

One  of  the  chief  cities  was  Lyon.  A  city  of  almost  one  million 
inhabitants  of  whom  a  great  proportion  are  industrial  workers, 
Lyon  had  long  been  famous  for  its  peace  time  outputs.  Now  it  was 
a  center  for  making  the  munitions  of  war.  There  were  two  large 
factories  in  the  city  itself,  while  many  smaller  centers  within  trol- 
ley distance  were  composed  almost  entirely  of  industrial  popula- 
tion as  the  noon  time  swarms  of  men  and  women  in  the  streets 
testified.  In  one  of  these  factory  suburbs,  Feyzin,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
opened  its  first  Foyer  for  the  women  workers  in  munition  factories. 
"Never  have  I  seen  such  motley  crowds,"  wrote  the  secretary. 
"The  men  have  been  gathered  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth 
to  work  in  the  usines.  Some  of  the  men  and  women  work  in  chemi- 
cal factories  and  the  acids  turn  their  hands,  face,  hair  and  clothing 
yellow.     When  you  realize  what  they  are  doing,  you  know  that 

38 


they  are  as  essential  to  the  war  as  the  men  at  the  front.    Yet  almost 
nothing  has  been  done  ic-r  their  comfort  and  health." 

The  Feyzin  Foyer  was  opened  in  October,  1917,  and  was  known 
as  the  Foyer  Des  Ouvrieres.  A  room  in  the  munition  center  can- 
tonment, where  the  women  lived,  was  made  bright  with  paint,  com- 
fortable with  furniture,  and  lively  with  a  victrola.  Another  im- 
portant item  in  the  furnishings  was  writing  material.  Since  nearly 
all  of  the  women  had  men  at  the  front  or  families  far  away,  one  of 
the  greatest  use  of  the  Foyer  would,  be  to  furnish  facilities  for 
writing  letters. 

The  appreciation  with  which  this  Foyer  was  received  forecast 
the  usefulness  which  such  a  place  might  have  in  a  munition  center 
and  the  duplication  of  the  effort  in  other  places.  Bourges  was 
visited  in  October,  1917,  a  city  whose  population  had  tripled  since 
the  war  because  of  the  inflow  of  munition  workers,  and  negotia- 
tions were  begun  for  a  Foyer  there.  In  Lyon  it  was  soon  evident 
that  two  other  places  would  be  needed  in  connection  with  the  large 
industrial  centers  in  the  city  itself.  In  describing  a  trip  through 
the  munition  centers  of  Lyon,  the  secretary  wrote :  "It  was  about 
two  P.  M.  and  one  of  the  shifts  was  leaving  work.  It  was  dark 
and  very  muddy  in  the  new  roads  which  led  to  the  barracks  where 
the  workers  live.  One  heard  many  strange  languages  as  Arabs, 
Greeks,  Chinese,  Moroccans,  Portuguese  and  French  passed  in  a 
long,  long  procession.  They  were  going,  most  of  them,  to  their 
barracks  where  they  live  in  huge,  open  dormitories  and  while  they 
were  all  engaged  in  long  weary  labor  to  make  instruments  to 
destroy  other  human  beings,  the  conditions  under  which  they  lived 
and  worked  made  them  but  little  above  animals.  And  this  scene 
can  be  duplicated  in  scores  of  places  in  France." 

In  such  surroundings  the  women  lived,  themselves  huddled  in 
similar  barracks  or  else  residing  miles  from  their  work.  The  secre- 
tary found  it  difficult  to  express  what  she  saw.  "If  only  I  could 
paint  an  adequate  picture  of  the  hardships  of  the  women  workers! 
Transportation  facilities  are  quite  inadequate  and  after  an  eleven 
hour  day,  the  women  stand  in  the  cold  waiting  for  a  train;  some- 
times one  must  let  three  or  four  cars  go  by  because  there  is  no 
room  on  them,  and  then  perhaps  there  is  a  long 'wait  before  the 
next  one  comes."  The  Foyer  at  Feyzin  accommodated  only  a  small 
number  and  yet  it  so  completely  filled  the  need  at  this  smaller 
center  that  the  work  there  was  a  complete  success.  By  Christmas 
time  it  had  become  a  veritable  home  to  the  women.  In  what  other 
place  could  they  celebrate  the  festive  season?  The  secretaries  fore- 
seeing! the  possibility  for  a  little  merry-making  provided  a  tree, 
gifts  and  even  a  Santa  Claus  for  the  fourteen  children  and  the  sixty 
women  of  the  barracks.  Through  the  gifts  of  a  club  in  Pasadena, 
California,  it  was  made  possible  for  each  one  of  these  to  be  given 
candy  and  nuts.  The  other  two  Foyers  in  Lyon  were  to  serve 
larger  numbers  but  were  much  slower  in  opening  because  of  diffi- 
culties with  workmen  and  final  arrangements  with  the  authorities. 

39 


In  February,  1918,  the  Foyer  at  the  "Exposition"  was  opened. 
The  building  that  had  housed  the  last  of  the  famous  Lyon  exposi- 
tions in  1914  was  now  the  scene  of  a  munition  plant.  Over  one 
thousand  women  daily  made  use  of  the  Foyer  which  had  been  pro- 
vided there.  "  To  see  the  women  pouring  in  and  out  from  eleven 
o'clock  to  one-thirty  and  to  know  that  more  than  one  thousand 
are  using  all  that  the  Foyer  ofifers  every  day  brings  a  deep  sense  of 
joy  and  gratitude.  One  day  after  an  unusually  good  program  of 
violin  and  vocal  music,  at  the  noon  hour,  one  woman  said  with  a 
glowing  face,  'Oh,  Mademoiselle,  I  can  work  with  so  much  more 
courage  after  I  have  heard  music  like  that.'  The  chief  director  of 
the  usine  acknowledged  the  work  when  he  said  to  the  secretary, 
'You  can  have  anything  you  want.  Just  think  what  we  can  do  for 
you  and  let  us  know.  We  stand  ready  to  help  you  in  any  way.' 
The  most  sincere  compliment  paid  the  work  was  a  desire  to  dupli- 
cate the  Foyer  and  its  work  for  the  men." 

The  third  Lyon  Foyer  was  opened  April  27,  1918,  at  the  muni- 
tion factory,  known  as  the  Pare  d'Artillerie.  Since  January  the 
secretaries  had  been  visiting  the  four  hundred  women  at  the 
**Mess,"  a  restaurant  operated  in  connection  with  the  usine. 
These  visits  of  once  or  twice  a  week  had  prepared  the  way  for  the 
opening  of  the  large  "Salle  de  Reunion,"  which  the  management 
built  for  a  Foyer.  A  commission  of  American  guests  visited  Lyon 
at  the  time  of  the  opening.  Their  presence  meant  not  only  inspira- 
tion and  pleasure  for  the  secretaries  but  it  stamped  the  work  of  the 
Foyer  des  Alliees  in  the  eyes  of  Lyon  people  with  a  double  value. 
With  the  three  Foyers  in  Lyon  the  work  had  a  far  reaching  effect. 
Some  estimated  statistics  from  the  Exposition  Foyer  of  Lyon  for 
the  month  of  April,  1918,  gave  a  total  attendance  for  the  month  of 
about  26,500,  or  three  thousand  dififerent  women.  In  English 
classes  the  attendance  was  about  500 ;  in  sewing  classes,  75 ;  gym- 
nastic classes,  215.  About  5,000  sheets  of  writing  material  were 
distributed. 

The  movement  that  had  begun  with  the  industrial  Work  at 
Feyzin  was  becoming  known  in  other  cities.  At  St.  Etienne,  not 
far  distant  from  Lyon,  the  Prefect  of  the  Loire,  later  a  member  of 
the  Cabinet  of  M.  Clemenceau,  had  undertaken  some  welfare  work 
with  the  aid  of  a  committee  of  women  for  the  working  girls  of  the 
city.  The  organization  of  a  club  was  in  progress  just  at  the  time 
when  the  first  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  visited  St.  Etienne.  The  help 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  immediately  sought  in  organizing  and 
carrying  on  this  work.  Two  secretaries  were  sent  to  St.  Etienne 
in  December,  1917.  In  this  great  industrial  city  of  about  150,000 
there  were  large  opportunities  for  industrial  clubs.  A  Foyer  with  club 
work  was  opened  January  1,  1918.  At  the  first  evening's  enter- 
tainment eighty  girls  were  present.  From  this  the  membership 
grew  until  by  the  end  of  the  month  there  was  a  membership  of 
700.  The  scope  of  the  work  had  increased  as  well  as  the  member- 
ship. Two  floors  of  a  building  in  the  central  part  of  the  city  had 
been  rented  for  club  rooms  and  a  restaurant  started  for  industrial 
and  business  girls.     From  St.  Etienne  the  work  spread  to  Roanne. 

40 


It  happened  in  this  way :  The  Mayor  of  the  thriving  industrial  city 
of  Roanne  chanced  to  meet  on  the  train  in  February,  1918,  the  sec- 
retaries from  St.  Etienne  who  were  on  their  way  to  Paris.  Learn- 
ing of  the  work  they  were  doing,  he  immediately  asked  to  have  it 
duplicated  in  Roanne,  with  the  result  that  investigations  were 
made,  a  location  found  and  secretaries  sent.  Two  Foyers  were 
opened  in  Roanne,  one  at  the  Arsenal  for  the  munition  working 
women  and  the  other  in  two  large  rooms  of  the  new  and  imposing 
building  owned  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  These  were  opened 
in  July,  1918,  and  by  September,  1918,  the  membership  in  the  city 
Foyer  was  more  than  400.  Successful  English  classes  and  recrea- 
tional evenings  were  meeting  a  general  need.  At  the  Arsenal,  the 
noon  hour,  when  hundreds  of  women  dropped  in  to  spend  their 
two  hours  of  intermission,  was  the  important  feature.  The  work 
had  the  backing  of  one  of  the  most  important  industrial  authorities 
in  France. 

In  Paris  the  work  was  developing  on  slightly  differing  lines. 
There  was  need  in  the  center  of  the  city  for  club  rooms  and  a  gath- 
ering place  for  the  many  girls  who  worked  in  various  trades  and 
shops  far  from  their  homes.  In  connection  with  the  agencies  already 
at  work  for  French  girls  in  Paris  and  particularly  with  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles,  a  location  was  found 
in  the  same  building  with  a  restaurant  where  many  girls  came  at 
noon.  A  whole  floor  was  rented,  consisting  of  a  large  club  room, 
small  class  rooms,  kitchenette,  etc.  The  success  which  this  venture 
was  to  attain  was  little  dreamed  of  at  the  time.  A  small  beginning 
at  acquaintance  was  made  in  January,  1918,  when  the  new  Hostess 
House,  Hotel  Pctrograd,  hospitably  invited  members  of  the  Union 
Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles  to  an  afternoon  gathering.  It  was 
thought  by  the  French  committee  that  150  would  be  a  very  compli- 
mentary response  to  the  invitation  which  was  sent  out  to  over 
600.  When  therefore  400  appeared,  the  beginning  of  the  long  story 
of  Foyer  popularity  was  made.  The  rooms  to  be  occupied  by  the 
Foyer  were  not  ready  until  March,  1918,  owing  to  many  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  finding  steady  workmanship,  suitable  furnishings  and 
sufficient  quantity  of  things  that  would  match,  but  after  all  the 
labor  spent  upon  the  beautifying  of  this  first  Paris  Foyer,  the  result 
was  most  gratifying.  Bright  patterned  cretonne  curtains  fresh- 
ened the  room.  Comfortable  chairs,  tables  filled  with  late  maga- 
zines, cozy  writing  corners,  a  piano,  and  dishes  for  afternoon  tea, 
made  the  place  very  homelike.  This  Foyer,  which  was  located  at 
4  rue  de  la  Vrilliere,  between  the  Bank  of  France  and  the  Bourse 
and  in  the  area  of  all  their  related  industries,  opened  its  doors  in 
the  middle  of  March,  1918.  No  advertising  was  necessary.  Small 
notices  had  been  posted  in  the  four  existing  Foyers  for  working 
girls  and  the  word  had  spread.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  open- 
ing came  at  the  beginning  of  two  weeks  of  steady  bombardment  of 
Paris  by  aeroplane  and  by  the  long  range  gun,  noon  hour  at  the 
"Foyer  meant  the  flowing  in  of  as  many  girls  as  could  be  accommo- 
dated. The  secretary  proudly  described  her  ''brave  little  English 
class,"  which  met  at  night  twice  a  week :    "Their  spirit  was  put  to 


the  test  on  the  occasion  of  their  first  meeting  for  the  'alerte'  or 
warning  signal  sounded  just  as  the  lesson  finished.  I  was  just 
turning  out  the  lights  when  the  siren  sounded  and  by  the  time  I 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  stairs  the  girls  had  disappeared.  I  found 
that  they  had  been  sent  to  a  cellar  in  the  neighboring  building  and 
I  followed  them  down  three  or  four  flights  of  steps  into  a  veritable 
dungeon.  All  twenty  members  of  the  English  classl  were  there, 
gay  and  talkative  until  the  'berloque'  or  safety  signal  was  sounded 
at  ten-thirty.  All  means  of  transportation  had  stopped  and  so  most 
of  them  had  'to  walk  long  distances  to  their  homes.  Yet  the  next 
day  there  were  no  complaints  and  fifteen  appeared  for  the  next  les- 
son." On  account  of  this  situation  night  work  was  not  enlarged  at 
the  Foyer,  but  the  noon  hour  continued  popular,  with  the  girls 
filling  every  available  chair  and  sofa,  reading  or  sewing,  talking  or 
listening  to  the  piano,  as  they  preferred. 

A  second  Paris  Foyer  was  opened  at  6  rue  Solferino  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1918  in  response  to  a  request  from  the  French  Ministry  of 
War  for  a  place  where  the  girls  working  at  the  Ministry  might  go. 
A  charming  apartment  was  found  nearby  and  fitted  up  as  a  Foyer 
with  American  secretaries  in  charge,  rent  paid  by  the  Ministry. 

Bourges,  which  had  been  visited  in  October,  1917,  with  a  view 
to  opening  work  in  connection  with  the  munition  factories  con- 
tinued long  in  the  stage  of  ''pourparlers."  It  was  not  until  Febru- 
ary, 1918,  that  work  on  the  new  Foyer  was  under  way.  The  city 
presented  strange  contrasts.  Against  its  mediaeval  background 
was  set  a  surging  of  modern  industrial  groups  collected  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  Under  the  very  shadow  of  the  Cathedral  with 
its  sculptured  facade  of  The  Last  Judgment  walked  Mohammedans 
from  the  French  colonies,  free  thinkers,  Chinese  from  French 
Indo-China,  and  in  and  out  among  them  the  black  working  dress 
of  women  who  had  come  to  take  their  part  in  war  industry.  The 
large  munition  plant  known  as  the  Ecole  de  Pyrotechnic  employed 
in  March,  1918,  14,000  persons,  of  whom  5,000  were  women.  It 
was  spread  over  a  large  area  at  the  edge  of  the  city.  In  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  the  Administration  provided  quarters  for  about  2,500 
employees  in  three  units.  One  of  these  was  for  families — a  large 
building  that  had  form,erly  been  a  hospital ;  a  second  was  barracks, 
known  as  Annexe  Carnot,  and,  included  both  women  living  in 
dormitories  and  women  in  housekeeping  groups ;  the  third  unit  was 
a  little  village  in  itself,  known  as  La  Cite  Ouvriere  des  Bigarelles,  a 
cantonment  built  up  especially  to  house  workers  and  their  families. 
Half  of  the  space  was  given  to  the  dormitories  occupied  by  single 
women;  the  other  half  was  given  up  to  small  houses  for  families. 
The  whole  cantonment,  surrounded  by  a  brick  wall,  was  guarded 
by  a  military  official  at  the  gate  and  presided  over  by  a  French 
woman  superintendent  or  welfare  worker.  At  both  Carnot  and 
Bigarelles  space  was  allotted  for  a  Foyer  and  to  each  of  these  cen- 
ters an  American  secretary  was  sent  who  had  charge  of  the  one 
place  in  the  camp  to  which  the  women  could  come  in  search  of 
wholesome  amusement.  It  was  usually  a  case  of  choosing  between 
the  open  road  swarming  as  it  was  with  the  roughest  element  of 


foreign  men,  and  an  inviting  program  at  the  Foyer.  At  Carnot  the 
Foyer  became  an  intimate  little  family  gathering  place  where  the 
women  often  brought  their  babies  from  the  nearby  creche.  Enter- 
tainments of  all  kinds  were  provided  and  some  classes.  At  Bigar- 
elles  the  Foyer  became  the  gathering  place  of  young  people  of  the 
cantonment.  Dancing  and  singing  were  the  order  of  the  evening's 
program  and  gave  exercises  to  the  tired  bodies  as  greatly  needed  as 
the  refreshment  to  drooping  spirits.  "One  more  Po-o-ll-ka,  Mees" 
was  always  the  plea  when  the  closing  hour  came  and  once  more  the 
jolly  music  would  strike  up  and  the  gay  groups  go  whirling  about 
the  floor,  for  such  a  place  was  irresistible. 

In  the  summer  of  1918  it  was  found  advisable  to  open  a  central 
Foyer  in  Bourges  for  the  girls  employed  in  shops  or  trades  in  the 
city.  With  the  help  of  the  Administration  of  the  Pyrotechnie,  a 
location  was  found  at  21  rue  de  Nevers  in  a  house  where  certain  of 
their  women  workers  were  furnished  rooms.  The  two  lower  floors, 
an  adjoining  building  which  might  be  used  for  a  gymnasium,  and  a 
garden  were  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Foyer.  The  opening  after- 
noon saw  crowds  of  people  on  hand  to  examine  this  strange  new 
kind  of  organization  that  had  come  into  their  midst.  Since  it  was 
Sunday  they  came  by  families — fathers,  mothers,  small  children; 
and  Sundays  remained  a  family  day  at  the  Bourges  Foyer,  but  for 
thej  week  days  the  girls  claimed  the  place.  Every  night  in  the 
week  was  taken  with  some  kind  of  class  or  recreation  work.  Eng- 
lish was  the  most  popular,  especially  in  those  days  preceding  the 
Armistice  when  the  streets  thronged  with  American  soldiers  who 
represented  every  phase  of  "American  English"  as  spoken  in  the 
various  States.  Added  to  this  came  the  "British  English"  of  the 
WAACS,  whose  presence  was  duly  noted.  The  French  girls  added 
one  more  variety  to  the  kinds  of  English  spoken  in  Bourges  in  the 
fall  of  1918. 

One  other  city  which  became  a  great  American  headquarters 
was  Tours.  That  part  of  Army  work  which  had  to  do  with  the 
Service  of  Supplies  had  its  center  there.  Many  French  girls  were 
used  in  the  offices.  Other  French  girls  employed  in  the  city  found 
their  lives  strangely  upset  by  the  presence  of  so  exciting  and  so 
unknown  a  quantity  as  the  American  soldier.  It  was  therefore 
thought  wise  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  should  bring  in  the  wholesome 
influence  of  the  Foyer.  An  old  business  house,  more  picturesque 
than  sanitary,  in  the  center  of  the  city,  was  made  over  into  a 
splendid  array  of  class  rooms,  kitchenette,  club  rooms  and  larger 
gathering  places.  At  the  opening  parties,  April  26  and  29,  1918, 
150  girls  came,  representing  two  department  stores  and  thd  em- 
ployees of  the  American  Army.-  From  that  time  on,  they  continued 
to  crowd  the  building.  The  vivacity  and  overflowing  spirits 
rejuvenated  the  place;  and  the  American  secretaries  with  all  their 
ingenuity  found  hands  as  well  as  hearts  full.  There  is  something 
so  appealing  about  French  girls  that  one  cannot  resist  the  giving 
out  of  one's  best. 

43 


At  Paris  the  large  munition  factory  in  the  suburb  of  Puteaux 
was  especially  equipped  for  welfare  work.  With  a  very  good 
creche  and  a  lunchroom  already  in  operation,  negotiations  had  been 
begun  in  the  summer  of  1918  for  establishing  a  Foyer.  The  Foyer 
was  not  opened,  however,  until  October,  1918.  The  secretary  was 
given  a  large  room  joined  by  a  smaller  room  and  two  offices  to 
decorate  and  equip.  Her  eye  for  bright  colors  produced  an  effect 
that  was  cheering,  bright  blue  and  yellow  predominating.  Here 
the  women  of  the  factory  came  at  noon  time  for  lunch  and  in  the 
evenings  for  class  work,  clubs  and  recreation.  Music  and  dancing, 
singing,  gymnastics,  English  study  were  all  in  the  week's  schedule. 
Special  parties  were  organized  to  mark  events  in  the  Foyer  life. 
Although  the  number  of  women  served  was  not  large,  the  Foyer 
became  a  home  to  those  wlio  did  come  and  continued  its  work  even 
after  the  Armistice.  The  secretary  was  assisted  ably  by  the  French 
women  superintendents  in  charge  of  the  personnel  at  the  Arsenal. 

Two  Foyers  which  served  special  groups  of  French  girls  work- 
ing with  the  American  Army  were  opened  for  a  short  time  before 
the  Armistice  at  Romorantin  and  Is-sur-Tille.  Plans  were  also 
under  way  for  opening  a  Foyer  at  Montlucon  for  the  munition 
makers  of  the  town  but  the  Armistice  came  before  the  place  was 
in  readiness  and  it  was  never  really  opened. 

The  signing  of  the  Armistice  and  the  cessation  of  hostilities 
wrought  a  great  change  in  the  work  of  the  Foyers.  The  period  of 
emergency  was  past — those  days  when  every  effort  was  directed 
toward  relieving  strain  and  renewing  strength.  From  one  night's 
battle,  whether  of  the  Gothas  over  Paris  and  the  long  range  gun 
known  through  personal  experience,  or  whether  the  fighting  at  the 
front  endured  vicariously  with  the  soldiers  in  the  trenches  to  an- 
other day's  work,  seemed  a  matter  of  mere  hours  and  yet  it  might 
represent  eternity.  To  the  end  of  forgetfulness  of  tragedy  and 
renewal  of  hopefulness  in  living,  the  Foyer  work  was  directed  in 
the  emergency  period.  The  Armistice  day  itself  can  never  be  for- 
gotten in  the  Foyers.  It  seemed  as  if  all  the  world  had  existed  for 
that  one  moment  when  the  spirit  of  France  overflowed  the  houses 
and  was  carried  into  the  streets  and  spent  itself  in  shouts  of  joy 
and  songs  of  triumph.  The  cries  of  ''Vive  I'Amerique !"  were  sup- 
plemented by  **Vive  les  Mees !"  whenever  a  Foyer  girl  in  the  midst 
of  her  celebrations  spied  one  of  her  beloved  "Misses,"  the  Ameri- 
can secretaries  of  the  Foyer.  In  those  days  of  jubilation^  France's 
exuberance  of  spirit  expressed  her  gratefulness  to  America  for  the 
aid  she  had  received. 

The  days  that  followed  the  Armistice  were  filled  with  new 
efforts.  Reconstruction  was  the  word  in  everybody's  mind.  To 
build  up  slowly  again  to  the  normal  was  a  work  as  much  harder 
than  the  tearing  down  process  as  it  was  longer.  For  these  days 
the  Foyers  already  organized  stood  ready  to  do  their  utmost.  A 
few  Foyers  working  with  special  groups  brought  together  by  war 
circumstances  were  necessarily  closed  shortly  after  the  Armistice. 
Such  groups  were  those  of  French  girls  working  with  the  Ameri- 

44 


can  Army  at  Romorantin  and  Is-sur-Tille.  The  women  working 
in  munition  factories  were  demobilized  early  in  December — a 
never-to-be-forgotten  day  when  with  a  month's  pay  advanced  and 
railroad  fare  to  any  point  in  France  to  which  they  wished  to  go, 
these  motley  crowds  were  let  loose  like  so  many  children  freed 
from  an  intensified  school  of  life.  No  one  knew  what  would  hap- 
pen— and  yet  to  the  Foyer  secretary  who  saw  the  women  she  had 
known  and  worked  with  come  with  tears  in  their  eyes  to  say  good- 
bye and  to  ask  the  address  of  the  Foyers  in  towns  to  which  they 
might  be  going — to  the  secretary  this  was  but  the  beginning  of 
what  the  Blue  Triangle  might  stand  for.  Even  now  in  the  lives 
of  these  women  of  France  the  skies  were  full  of  hope.  Happy  in- 
deed was  she  when  she  could  point  the  workers  to  Foyers  in  the 
towns  to  which  they  were  going. 

At  that  time  not  many  existed.  Fifteen  Foyers  in  seven  cities 
the  statistics  showed.  Yet  these  Foyers  were  serving  perhaps  15,- 
000  women.  Shortly  after  the  Armistice  the  Foyers  were  closed  at 
Feyzin  and  Pare  d'Artillerie  (Lyon),  the  Arsenal  Foyer  at  Roanne, 
and  the  Foyer  at  Annexe  Carnot  (Bourges).  Certain  of  the  muni- 
tion Foyers  remained  open  many  months  after  the  Armistice  be- 
cause they  could  still  be  of  use.  Such  were  the  Foyer  at  Bigarelles 
(Bourges),  which  was  surrounded  by  refugees  who  had  no  home 
to  go  to,  and  the  Foyer  at  the  Exposition  (Lyon).  The  Arsenal  at 
Puteaux  (Paris)  made  a  change  to  peace-time  manufactures  and 
many  of  the  workers  remained ;  the  Foyer  was  therefore  kept  open. 

Following  the  Armistice  there  came  a  period  of  expansion  for 
the  Foyers.  The  work  which  had  been  begun  to  meet  an  emer- 
gency need  under  American  leadership  would  continue  with  a  lead- 
ership both  French  and  American,  gradually  merging  into  French 
leadership  with  American  cooperation  until  such  time  as  it  seemed 
wise  for  Americans  to  withdraw.  With  a  view  to  studying  into  the 
whole  situation,  seeking  wise  cooperation  and  greater  usefulness, 
there  was  formed  a  Provisional  Council.  This  council  consisted  of 
representatives  of  five  French  organizations,  together  with  certain 
of  the  American  secretaries  and  other  American  women  interested 
in  French  work.  The  five  French  organizations  were  The  National 
Council  of  French  Women,  The  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes 
Filles,  The  Associations  Chretiennes  d'Etudiantes,  Les  Amies  de 
la  Jeune  Fille.  and  The  Foyer  des  Alliees.  The  object  of  the  Pro- 
visional Council  was  fourfold : 

C     ^1.  To  make  a  study  of  the  conditions  and  needs  of  women  in 
\France. 

2.  To  get  in  touch  with  French  women's  organizations. 

3.  To  develop  typical  examples  of  various  activities  for  the  well- 
being,  physical  and  moral,  of  women. 

4.  Tq  draw  closer  the  bonds  of  friendship  between  France  and 
America.  J 

The  entire  membership  of  the  council  was  divided  into  commis- 

45 


sions  for  the  study  of  particular  subjects  relating  to  work  for 
women.  One  commission  was  to  study  recreation ;  another  edu- 
cation (both  practical  and  intellectual)  ;  a  third  commission  was 
to  study  into  the  moral  education  of  women;  the  fourth  commis- 
sion represented  employment  and  occupations  of  women.  Each 
commission  was  to  make  a  special  investigation  of  its  subject 
and  prepare  a  report  to  be  presented  to  the  entire  council. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Provisional  Council  took  place  January 
29  and  30,  1919,  at  the  Headquarters  Office  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
8  Place  Edouard  VII,  Paris.  For  two  days  the  lovely  rooms,  the 
"G.  H.  Q."  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France,  were  a  beehive  of  activi- 
ties, as  French  women  of  many  interests,  women  of  social  promi- 
rence,  women  specialists  and  women  students,  met  together  to  dis- 
cuss these  all  absorbing  topics  of  future  work  for  the  women  of 
France.  One  afternoon  was  given  over  to  a  more  formal  meeting 
in  the  Theatre,  Edouard  VII,  when  moving  pictures  were  shown 
of  the  work  of  the  Foyer  des  AUiees  under  war  conditions  in  the 
munition  factories  and,  by  contrasts,  some  open  air  camp  activities 
in  America.  After  the  two  days'  session,  the  council  adjourned  to 
meet  again  after  further  study  in  another  month.  In  this  way  three 
meetings  were  held,  each  one  more  full  of  interest  than  the  last. 
The  meeting  that  was  scheduled  for  the  last  in  April,  1919,  found 
it  advisable  to  suggest  the  holding  of  one  more  Provisional  Council 
session  in  the  late  fall,  thus  allowing  time  to  pass  for  further  devel- 
opment before  the  final  meeting  and  the  final  summing  up  of  re- 
sults. 

In  the  meantime  the  work  of  the  Foyer  des  Alliees  continued  with 
ever  enlarging  usefulness.  The  results  of  months  of  work  and 
study  through  trying  periods  were  now  being  seen  in  the  broader 
significance  of  Foyer  life.  In  the  summer  of  1918  it  had  been  ad- 
visable to  ask  one  secretary  to  give  her  time  to  the  direction  of 
education  work  in  all  the  Foyers.  Great  were  the  opportunities  in 
the  class  work  of  most  of  the  Foyers  for  a  program  which  would 
include  not  only  the  things  most  in  demand,  by  the  girls  them- 
selves but  would  also  create  a  demand  for  the  things  most  needed. 
English  classes  came  early  on  the  schedule.  They  were  useful  as 
a  war  emergency  measure  and  as  adding  somewhat  to  a  girl's  busi- 
ness equipment.  Many  were  the  subjects  along  more  practical 
lines,  such  as  domestic  science,  sanitation,  care  of  a  house,  care  of 
children.  A  series  of  lectures  were  organized  with  notable  speak- 
ers to  make  a  tour  of  the  Foyers  and  present  these  subjects  in  popu- 
lar form.  Moving  pictures  were  added  to  the  equipment  wherever 
possible.  French  specialists,  both  men  and  women,  were  invited 
to  give  the  lectures  as  well  as  French  speaking  Americans.  The 
course  was  received  with  interest  and  was  carried  on  through  the 
fall  and  winter  of  1918-19. 

Recreation  was  a  subject  by  itself.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
important  phases  of  Foyer  work,  important  not  only  for  the  imme- 
diate value  of  class  work  in  gymnasiums  but  for  the  far  reaching 
effect  of   organized   play.     The   spirit   of   comradeship   developed 

46 


through  participation  in  games  and  the  benefits  derived  from  team 
work.  The  need  for  physical  education  was  great  in  France  where 
no  provision  was  made  for  it  in  the  ordinary  schools.  It  came  as  a 
new  phase  of  life  to  most  of  the  Foyer  girls.  So  great  an  impor- 
tance was  attached  by  the  Association  to  the  work  of  physical  edu- 
cation that  a  physical  director  was  connected  with  each  Foyer  in 
France  to  direct  this  part  of  the  program.  Her  equipment  was 
usually  small.  In  most  of  the  Foyers  gymnasium  facilities  were 
lacking  but  the  makeshift  necessary  to  improvise  suitable  condi- 
tions of  work  added  to  the  zest  for  the  work.  The  matter  of  ob- 
taining gymnasium  suits  was  a  problem.  Those  worn  by  some  of 
the  girls  looked  more  like  bathing  suits.  Through  the  kindess  of 
some  colleges  in  America  a  few  gymnasium  suits  were  sent  over 
for  use  in  the  Paris  Recreation  Center. 

In  Paris  a  special  place  was  rented  at  73  rue  Notre  Dame  de 
Nazareth  for  a  Recreation  Center.  This  had  grown  out  of  the 
needs  of  all  the  Foyers.  From  the  beginning  of  Foyer  work  in 
Paris  early,  in  1918  the  physical  program  had  been  a  part  of  the 
schedule.  With  the  early  days  of  spring  in  that  year  of  air  raids 
and  bombardments,  classes  had  met  for  gymnastic  exercises  at  the 
noon  hour.  Hikes  had  been  arranged  for  Saturday  afternoons  and 
holidays.  Open  air  play  had  been  provided  and  all  day  picnics 
when  possible.  The  work  was  necessarily  limited.  Through  the 
kindness  of  the  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles,  a  place  in  the 
country  near  Paris  was  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Foyer  girls  for 
out-of-door  activities,  and  week-end  parties,  and  was  greatly  used 
in  the  summer  of  1918.  This  was  known  as  L'Oiseau  Bleu.  A 
sport  field  had  been  rented  at  Val  d'Or  also  for  the  use  of  Paris 
Foyers.  One  tennis  court  with  a  tea  garden  attached  was  rented 
at  Auteuil  and  was  not  too  far  out  to  admit  of  much  use  by  girls 
from  the  Paris  Foyers.  When,  therefore,  in  the  fall  of  1918,  the 
new  Recreation  Center  was  opened  at  73  rue  Notre  Dame  de  Naz- 
areth for  all  the  Paris  Foyers  the  Foyer  members  were  ready  for  a 
winter  of  intensive  gymnasium  activities.  They  came  by  classes 
from  the  Foyers  to  this  center  in  the  evenings,  or  as  their  time 
permitted,  and  great  progress  was  made  not  only  in  gymnastics 
pro^^r  but  in  aesthetic  dancing  and  games. 

\One  interesting  feature  in  connection  with  the  Recreation  Cen- 
tep-+«-Paris  was  the  organization  of  a  class  of  girls  of  leisure  to  be 
volunteer  leaders  of  future  groups.  The  success  of  the  class  de- 
pended not  only  upon  their  own  agility  in  the  work  but  just  as 
much  upon  their  grasp  of  the  whole  idea  of  play  and  their  ability 
to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  democracy  and  leadership  in  the  Foyers. 
The  results  of  this  class  were  seen  the  following  summer  in  the 
summer  camps  of  1919  when  certain  members  of  the  class  volun- 
teered as  counsellors  and  recreation  leaders  for  the  girls  at  camp]} 

Paris  with  its  growing  number  of  Foyers  (five  in  the  fall  of 
1918  and  two  others  organized  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  1919) 
had  the  greatest  need  for  a  central  recreation  meeting  place.  Other 
cities  with  Foyers  had  their  recreation  work  too.     In  the  munition 

47 


Foyers  it  was  found  that  the  workers  were  usually  too  tired  for 
any  concentrated  work  in  gymnastics.  Rollicking  games  and 
dancing,  however,  had  been  greatly  appreciated.  In  the  city  Foyers 
a  regular  physical  program  had  been  the  rule.  At  Bourges  (21  rue 
de  Nevers)  the  building  adjoining  the  Foyer  was  fitted  up  for  a 
gymnasium  where  classes  met  regularly.  At  St.  Etienne  a  park 
in  connection  with  the  Foyer  offered  an  opportunity  for  out-of- 
door  gymnastic  work  and  recreation.  Whenever  the  weather  was 
good,  gymnastic  classes  were  held  in  the  open,  and  between  times 
picnics  were  in  order.  In  Tours  the  need  for  a  Recreation  Center 
some  place  away  from  the  crowded,  busy  section  of  the  city,  was 
so  great  that  the  secretaries  werq  driven  to  look  outside  the  city 
and  in  the  river  itself.  There  was  an  island  within  easy  access 
and  yet  surrounded  by  the  swift  moving  waters  of  the  Loire,  con- 
nected only  by  a  bridge  with  the  crowded  city.  One  half  of  this 
island  was  rented  and  a  more  beautiful  recreation  park  could  not 
have  been  found.  Waving  trees,  plentiful  grass,  tennis  courts,  two 
small  houses  to  hold  equipment  and  to  lodge  secretaries,  made  the 
place  ideal.  That  it  was  duly  appreciated  was  evidenced  by  the 
use  to  which  it  was  put.  Not  only  the  French  girls  from  the  Foyer 
came,  but  also  the  British  WAACS,  the  girls  of  the  American  Sig- 
nal Corps,  nurses  and  many  distinguished  visitors. 

With  the  summer  of  1919  the  recreation  work  was  organized  on 
a  larger  scale.  The  island  at  Tours  was  again  rented  and  put  at  the 
command  of  the  Foyer.  In  Paris  tennis  courts  were  found  in  the 
suburb  of  Neuilly  and  rented  for  the  use  of  all  the  Foyers,  begin- 
ning May  15,  1919.  Out-door  work  at  the  sport  field  began  June 
15,  1919.  At  the  Recreation  Center  (rue  Notre  Dame  de  Nazareth) 
a  demonstration  was  given  June  14  to  close  the  work  of  the  season. 
Although  a  Metro  strike  was  on,  guests  came  in  great  numbers 
and  admired  the  work  done  by  the  girls  from  all  the  Paris  Foyeis. 

As  an  additional  part  of  the  recreation  program,  summer  camps 
were  opened  in  four  places  in  order  that  members  of  all  the  Foyers 
in  France  might  have  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  a  vacation  in  a 
beautiful  and  refreshing  place  under  health  giving  auspices.  The 
camps  were  at  VOiseau  Bleu  near  Paris,  at  a  place  near  Boulogne 
in  the  north  of  France  (particularly  for  women  of  the  Devastated 
Regions),  at  Grenoble  in  the  mountains,  and  at  Quiberon  on  the 
coast  of  Brittany.  Thus  a  choice  was  afforded  between  the  country 
and  the  north  coast,  the  mountains  and  the  seashore.  Provision 
was  made  whereby  600  girls  might  each  spend  two  weeks  at  one 
of  these  places  and  the  camps  were  all  full  most  of  the  summer. 
The  addition  of  the  volunteer  leaders  from  the  normal  class  of  the 
Paris  Recreation  Center  brought  a  new  touch  in  leadership  to  the 
groups.  These  camps  were  so  successful  that  plans  were  made 
for  their  continuance  in  the  summer  of  1920. 

Not  only  was  the  work  of  existing  Foyers  very  much  enlarged 
in  the  years  1919  and  1920  but  many  new  Foyers  were  organ- 
ized. The  Recreation  Center  at  73  rue  Notre  Dame  de  Nazareth 
was  found  to  be  an  admirable  location  for  a  Foyer  because  of  the 


spacious  rooms,  the  conveniences  of  a  kitchen,  facihties  for  enter- 
taining as  well  as  the  recreational  equipment,  such  as  shower 
baths.  A  Foyer  was  therefore  opened  in  this  center,  independently 
of  the  recreational  program  which  applied  to  all  the  Foyers,  on 
January  12,  1919.  For  one  year  or  until  December  31,  1919,  this 
Foyer  contributed  to  the  life  of  girls  of  the  neighborhood  from 
shops,  wholesale  houses  and  department  stores.  The  third  month 
found  the  membership  reaching  211  and  an  average  daily  attend- 
ance of  101.  There  was  plenty  of  recreation  as  the  rooms  were 
nearly  always  in  use  by  groups  from  some  one  of  the  Foyers. 
Evening  classes  were  held.  One  evening  a  week  was  given  up  to 
dances  in  connection  with  the  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Club  of  Paris 
and  furnished  a  good  time  for  many  soldiers  and  sailors  in  Paris. 
The  difficulty  was  finding  enough  American  girls  to  furnish  part- 
ners for  the  dance.  But  no  distractions  in  the  use  of  their  rooms 
could  diminish  the  enthusiasm  of  the  members  of  the  Notre  Dame 
Foyer.  Their  own  activities  consisted  of  English  classes  at  noon 
or  evening,  classes  in  diction,  classes  in  poster  making,  and  enter- 
tainment. Sundays  were  always  At  Home  days  with  visits  from 
the  families  of  the  members.  Girls  from  this  Foyer  did  their  share 
in  enjoying  the  summer  camps  of  1919  and  were  represented  at 
Quiberon,  Grenoble  and  L'Oiseau  Bleu.  The  Foyer  was  closed 
only  when  it  seemed  advisable  to  merge  its  membership  into  the 
large  central  Foyer  opened  at  Rue  Daunou.  But  the  girls  of  Notre 
Dame  Foyer  "remaining  united  in  the  sweet  remembrances  of  the 
year  1919"  formed  a  little  club  known  as  the  "Club  Louise," 
named  in  honor  of  their  Directrice.  It  undertook  some  work  for  a 
family  in  the  devastated  regions.  Its  motto  "Union,  Service,  Loy- 
alty" expressed  the  spirit  of  their  Foyer. 

Other  centers  were  opened  in  Paris.  At  the  Employment  Bu- 
reau in  connection  with  the  Ministere  du  Travail,  a  small  rest  room 
was  opened — too  small  to  be  called  a  Foyer,  yet  filled  at  noon 
hour,  for  the  women  who  dropped  in,  with  pleasant  recreation  and 
activity.  A  French  woman  was  on  duty  at  the  rest  room  and  a 
secretary  visited  it  several  times  a  week.  The  room  was  not  too 
small  to  admit  a  large  volume  of  sound  when  the  workers  felt  like 
singing  the  Marseillaise  at  the  noon  hour. 

At  No.  3  rue  de  Clavel,  a  settlement  operated  in  connection  with 
the  Red  Cross,  asked  the  help  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  providing 
recreation  and  club  work.  In  May,  1919,  such  work  was  begun, 
the  secretary  meeting  with  an  English  club  'of  about  twenty-two 
girls.  A  class  in  games  and  folk  dancing  met  weekly.  The  folk 
dancing  led  to  some  dramatics  which  were  organized  on  occasions. 
Although  a  small  bit  of  work,  it  has  been  continued  as  long  as  the 
need  for  it  remains. 

At  Ivry,  a  manufacturing  suburb  of  Paris,  the  Foyers  Cantines 
had  a  center  where  they  asked  the  cooperation  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
in  some  recreation  work.  A  secretary  was  glad  to  cooperate  and 
the  Foyer  at  Ivry  was  thus  "taken  into  the  family." 

At  Bordeaux  the  need  for  a  Foyer  had  been  long  apparent.    The 

49 


crowded  condition  of  the  city  which  made  the  matter  of  procuring 
a  building  next  to  impossible,  and  the  preoccupation  of  cooperat- 
ing agencies  in  the  rush  of  war  conditions,  had  delayed  proceed- 
ings. At  last,  however,  in  the  fall  of  1919  a  Foyer  did  open  its 
doors  to  the  young  girls  of  Bordeaux.  These  girls  were  already 
acquainted  with  what  a  Foyer  could  mean  in  the  life  of  a  girl,  for 
,  in  the  month  of  June,  1919,  at  the  Bordeaux  Fair  a  small  tent  bearing 
the  symbol  of  the  Blue  Triangle  and  the  words  "Foyers  des 
Allliees"  had  exhibited  in  moving  pictures  with  explanatory  ad- 
dress, and  practically  demonstrated,  what  a  Foyer  really  was.  In 
this  tent  the  Bordelaises  had  learned  of  the  Foyer  movement  and 
were  prepared  for  its  reception.  In  the  first  month  of  its  existence 
the  Foyer  membership  reached  450.  This  number  included  girls 
employed  in  stores  and  offices  in  the  business  section  near  at  hand 
and  also  students  from  the  University  and  the  Lycee.  One  hun- 
dred and  seventy  registered  for  English  classes  and  gymnasium. 
An  average  of  eighty  came  in  daily  for  lunch  at  the  restaurant 
which  was  provided,  and  which  soon  proved  too  small  to  meet  the 
demand.  Happy  noon  hours  were  spent  reading,  sewing,  talking 
or  singing  in  the  bright,  cheery  room  after  lunch,  and  the  secre- 
taries were  not  the  only  ones  to  regret  that  the  Foyer  could  not 
have  been  started  long  ago.  This  Foyer  was  run  in  close  coopera- 
tion with  the  national  organization  of  the  Union  Chretienne  de 
Jeunes  Filles. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  its  permanent  reconstructive  work  was  not 
unmindful  of  the  needs  in  the  north  of  France  where  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  Armistice  found  many  organizations  at  work  in  co- 
operation with  the  French  government  on  the  difficult  and  slow 
task  of  reconstruction.  These  regions  which  had  been  fought  over, 
destroyed,  occupied,  were  technically  known  by  two  terms:  the 
Liberated  Regions  and  the  Devastated  Regions.  The  Liberated 
Regions  were  those,  such  as  Lille,  Roubaix  and  St.  Quentin,  which 
had  been  occupied  for  something  like  four  years  by  the  Germans. 
The  Devastated  Regions  were  those,  such  as  Verdun,  Soissons  and 
Reims,  which  were  fought  over  by  both  friend  and  foe  but  not 
necessarily  occupied  for  any  length  of  time.  Along  mile  after  mile 
of  roadway,  partially  destroyed  or  half  rebuilt,  one  might  travel  and 
see  only  shell-torn  fields,  splintered  trees,  village  after  village 
shattered  and  left  with  a  few  standing  walls  or  a  few  piles  of 
stone.  The  larger  cities  were  a  more  intensified  example  of  the 
same  thing.  The  character  of  the  cities  in  these  regions  differed 
greatly.  Such  cities  as  Lille,  Reims  and  Roubaix  represented  indus- 
trialism and  education  and  naturally  had  a  different  viewpoint  from 
such  cities  as  Soissons  and  Verdun  which,  with  the  many  villages 
surrounding  them,  were  almost  purely  agricultural  in  pursuit  rep- 
resenting the  peasant  mind  and  viewpoint. 

Many  agencies  were  already  at  work  in  these  regions  engaged  in 
relief  or  reconstruction.  It  was  found  desirable  to  consider  like- 
wise the  contribution  which  might  be  made  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
Along  with  the  physical  rebuilding  must  come  a  rebuilding  spirit- 
ually, mentally  and  morally  of  the  lives  of  people. 

so 


Reims  as  the  site  of  one  of  the  most  well  known,  now  one  of  the 
most  picturesque,  ruins  of  France,  the  famous  Reims  Cathedral, 
gave  promise  of  becoming  a  Mecca  for  tourists.  To  care  for  Amer- 
ican women,  a  small  Hostess  Hut  had  been  opened.  To  hundreds 
of  French  women  Reims  was  a  Mecca  because  it  was  to  them  home. 
To  bring  cheer  to  these  women  and  a  semblance  of  the  normal 
life  which  they  should  not  find  among  the  ruins,  a  Foyer  des 
Alliees  was  established  in  the  old  Maison  de  Retraite,  with  its  gar- 
den under  the  shadow  of  the  classic  towers  of  the  Cathedral.  The 
opening  took  place  on  the  afternoon  of  June  29,  1919,  with  a  pro- 
gram of  songs  by  the  young  women,  some  addresses  by  well 
known  residents  and  an  expression  from  the  Mayor  himself  of  his 
pleasure  at  seeing  a  Foyer  established  in  their  midst.  Following 
the  addresses,  there  were  dances  in  the  garden  under  the  trees, 
several  hundred  young  women  giving  this  touch  of  gaiety  to  the 
formal  opening  of  their  Foyer. 

The  Foyer  at  Reims  was  the  adopted  child  of  the  Foyer  of  La 
Vrilliere  in  Paris.  This  touching  relationship  of  the  girls  in  the 
French  capital  with  the  girls  in  a  devastated  city  was  one  mark  of 
the  great  sympathy  that  existed  among  the  girls  of  France  who 
felt  in  common  the  great  hardships  and  sorrows  of  the  war. 

The  Foyer  at  Reims  was  housed  during  the  summer  months  in 
the  Maison  de  Retraite  but  moved  later  into  other  quarters  where 
they  continued  the  Foyer  work  so  well  known  in  many  cities. 
There  were  classes  with  English  at  the  head  of  the  list.  Seventy 
girls  attended  in  the  bad  weather  of  winter  when  walks  were  long 
and  streets  dangerous.  There  were  classes  in  stenography  taught 
by. a  member  of  the  Foyer  as  a  voluteer  service  and  attended  by 
about  twenty-five.  There  were  sewing  classes.  About  fifty  came 
four  times  a  week  for  gymnasium.  Besides  this  there  were  the 
group  meetings  for  singing — about  seventy-five,  who  practiced  Chris- 
mas  carols  and  gave  three  in  English  on  the  Christmas  program,  mak- 
ing a  tour  of  the  hospitals  and  an  orphanage,  as  well  as  going  to 
the  Maison  de  Retraite  (the  Foyer's  first  home,  now  an  Old  Peo- 
ple's Home)  in  order  to  repeat  the  Christmas  program  for  the 
benefit  of  the  sick,  the  children  and  the  old  people.  These  girls  of 
the  Foyer  wished  to  share  with  the  less  fortunates  what  they  had 
so  greatly  enjoyed.  Through  the  winter  the  groups  kept  up  their 
meetings.  This  included  a  number  of  committees  to  take  charge 
of  various  activities,  such  as  calls  on  the  sick,  distribution  of  flow- 
ers, fruit  or  toys,  the  working  out  of  programs  for  the  Foyer  and 
a  practice  group  in  English  conversation,  known  as  the  Lafayette 
Club.  The  Reims  Foyer  had  a  number  of  members  who  had 
known  other  Foyers  in  the  south  of  France.  One  girl  who  had 
worked  in  the  munition  factory  offices  at  Bourges  was  a  frequent 
contributor  of  poems  or  songs  to  express  what  she  felt  of  the  work 
of  the  Foyer:  ''The  one  place  where  all  may  come  and  be  received 
with  equal  pleasure  without  distinctions." 

Lille,  slowly  emerging  from  the  ruined  state  in  which  it  was 
left  by  the  Germans,  had  two  urgent  needs  which  might  be  met 

51 


by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  As  an  intellectual  center,  Lille  attracted  stu- 
dents from  all  the  neighboring  towns  to  attend  the  industrial  and 
commercial  schools  or  the  University.  A  student  Hostel  or  Home 
for  the  reception  of  these  out  of  town  students  had  long  been  a 
dream  of  public  spirited  citizens.  With  the  congestion  now  found 
in  a  city  half  demolished,  the  young  girls  who  came  to  continue 
their  studies,  experienced  the  greatest  hardship  in  finding  lodgings, 
living  for  the  most  part  in  undesirable  quarters  often  exposed  to 
many  dangers  and  generally  ill-fed.  Their  first  need  was  for 
material  comfort.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  succeeeded  in  obtaining  a 
building  which  could  be  used  as  a  Student  Hostel,  beginning  Octo- 
ber 1,  1919.  This  building  being  centrally  located  was  well  adapted 
to  Foyer  work  for  students. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  far  reaching  influence  of  the 
Foyer  idea  was  found  also  in  Lille,  where  under  the  authority  of 
"the  Reconstitution"  a  Foyer  was  fitted  out  and  supervised  by  a 
woman  superintendent  formerly  of  a  large  munition  plant  in  the 
south.  Her  experience  in  the  munition  Foyer  had  led  her  to  copy 
the  idea  completely  here  even  to  the  gay  cretonnes,  and  to  in- 
augurate a  separate  Foyer  for  the  men.  She  spoke  enthusiastically 
of  what  she  had  gained  from  her  contact  with  the  Foyers  and  its 
secretaries  in  the  south. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  with  its  trained  physical  directors  could  not 
but  take  a  hand  in  some  physical  work  so  much  needed  by  women 
in  the  ^Devastated  Regions.  Statistics  showed  the  alarming  physi- 
cal state  of  the  women  and  children  in  Lille.  Among  the  children 
forty-six  out  of  every  one  hundred  were  tubercular.  Seven  thous- 
and of  them  were  being  sent  by  the  government  to  the  sea  at 
Etaples  for  the  summer.  The  condition  of  the  women  who  had 
endured  not  only  shell  shock  but  every  kind  of  shock,  physical, 
mental  and  moral  which  flesh  may  sustain,  was  so  far  below  nor- 
mal that  a  summer  camp  was  established  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer. 
Into  these  two  camps  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  put  physical  directors  to 
direct  the  play  of  the  children  and  bring  to  bear  what  influences 
they  might  among  the  women  for  the  restoration  of  health  and  a 
normal  outlook  on  life. 

So  appreciative  were  the  authorities  at  Lille  of  the  work  being 
done  for  their  women  and  girls  that  in  recognition  a  medal  was 
given  representing  the  city  of  Lille  and  received  by  Miss  Harriet 
Taylor  on  behalf  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

So  great  was  the  need  throughout  the  Devastated  and  Liberated 
Regions  that  it  was  difficult  to  know  where  the  work  would  be  most 
eflfective.  Armentieres  w^as  finally  chosen  as  the  site  for  an  experi- 
ment in  a  combination  Foyer  to  be  conducted  under  the  joint 
auspices  of  the  Foyer  du  Soldat  and  the  Foyer  des  Alliees.  The 
Foyer  du  Soldat,  which  was  a  Franco-American  activity  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  would  have  charge  of  the  work  for  men.  Two  separ- 
ate barracks  would  provide  for  the  respective  activities  of  the  men 
and  the  women.  Between  these  a  large  room  for  cinema  and  gen- 
eral meetings  would  be  shared  by  men  and  women  alike.     At  one 

52 


of  the  early  performances  it  was  necessary  to  turn  away  2,000  peo- 
ple. This  showed  the  need  for  some  wholesome  recreation  among" 
the  7,000  or  more  people  who  had  returned  to  Armentieres  and 
were  living  a  hand  to  mouth  existence.  The  Armentieres  Foyer 
was  later  moved  into  a  house  of  its  own,  a  house  newly  repaired 
and  most  attractive,  where  it  continued  the  spirit  of  friendly  co- 
operation. Before  the  war  Armentieres  had  a  population  of  be- 
tween 28,000  and  30,000,  mostly  working  people,  whose  skill  and 
labor  helped  make  famous  wonderfully  fine  woolen  and  cotton  cloth 
and  linens  which  had  become  a  part  of  the  traditions  of  Flanders 
and  the  north  of  France. 

The  aid  which  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  able  to  give  in  the  Devastated 
and  Liberated  Regions  was  for  the  most  part  with  an  outlook  to- 
ward building  up  for  the  future  continuance  and  permanence  of 
the  work  where  needed.  In  some  cases  work  that  had  been  started 
by  French  agencies  was  assisted.  The  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes 
Filles  had  several  branches  in  the  north  of  France  which,  in  spite 
of  the  great  distraction  of  war,  had  managed  to  survive.  To  see 
a  group  of  thirty  girls  returning  weekly  to  a  bare,  bleak,  little 
room  which  had  formerly  meant  to  them  happy  meetings  of  their 
"Union"  was  to  realize  the  dreariness  of  their  lives.  Now  as  never 
before  in  their  return  to  demolished  homes,  they  needed  outside 
gathering  places  in  which  to  meet  for  good  times,  conferences, 
"causeries"  or  to  sew  on  trousseaus,  happily  expectant,  in  their 
dear,  familiar  "Unions."  To  these  "Unions"  in  a  number  of  places 
in  the  Devastated  Regions,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  able  to  give  finan- 
cial help  where  it  would  count  for  most  in  the  lives  of  the  greatest 
number  of  girls.  With  the  help  of  money,  the  "Unions"  were  able 
to  brighten  up  their  rooms,  get  books  and  games,  and  materials  for 
the  ever  necessary  and  interesting  trousseaus.  Many  girls  in  the 
north  of  France  will  long  be  grateful  to  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

The  Foyer  movement  extended  into  Alsace.  In  Mulhouse  a 
house  was  secured  in  the  summer  of  1919,  set  in  order  with  paper 
and  paint  and  two  secretaries  were  put  "on  the  job."  September 
13,  1919,  a  Foyer  was  inaugurated.  From  11 :30  A.  M.  to  9  :30  P.  M. 
the  house  was  open.  A  few  girls  came  at  noon  and  enjoyed  the 
hot  drinks  served,  but  most  of  the  factories  were  equipped  with 
splendid  kitchens  and  lunch-rooms  and  many  of  the  girls  lived 
near  enough  to  go  home  to  lunch.  During  the  afternoon  hours 
girl  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fourteen  came  to  play  games, 
sing  and  learn  folk  dancing.  One  evening  a  week  was  taken  by  a 
volunteer  worker  whq  started  a  brush-making  class.  In  the  eve- 
ning came  girls  from  factories,  stores,  offices  and  homes,  all  within 
the  neighborhood,  and  made  the  place  theirs.  Informal  groups 
gathered  around  the  particular  work  they  preferred.  While  one 
group  was  using  the  sewing  machine,  others  turned  to  hand  em- 
broidery. In  the  library  (the  books  had  been  donated  by  the 
women  of  Mulhouse)  one  girl  read  aloud  while  others  sewed.  The 
evening  ends  with  a  happy  gathering  of  all  groups  to  join  in 
games,  folk  dancing  or  singing.  Since  the  repertoire  of  the  Foyer 
members  consisted  almost  entirely  of  German  songs,  new  interest 

53 


was  added  by  teaching  them  some  French  and  Enghsh  ones.  On 
special  occasions  the  famiUes  came,  which  made  a  festive  occasion 
at  the  Foyer,  and  the  girls  danced,  sang  and  played  in  Alsatian 
costumes.  The  influence  of  the  Foyer  was  carried  over  to  the  near- 
by school  and  the  teachers  heard  strange  echoes  of  the  doings  at 
the  vine-covered  house.  In  order  to  explain  to  them  the  Foyer 
idea,  a  Teachers'  Tea  was  given  to  which  about  thirty  came  de- 
manding to  see  a  gymnasium  class  in  action.  The  result  was  a 
new  conviction  among  the  guests  of  the  value  of  recreation. 

/Strasbourg,  that  city  of  ancient  happenings  and  modern  history, 
W4,s  likewise  to  see  a  Foyer.  In  one  of  the  narrow,  picturesque, 
little  streets  of  the  Alsatian  capital,  a  house  was  found  whose  very 
shape  cried  out  for  the  Blue  Triangle  since  it  was  a  triangular 
building.  Here  a  Foyer  was  opened  the  8th  of  October,  1919.  A 
reception  for  the  women  of  Strasbourg  had  initiated  the  building, 
and  when  the  young  girls  claimed  it  as  theirs  on  the  evening  of 
October  8,  the  exclamations  of  ''Ravissant !"'  expressed  more  than 
volumesT'v 

Th(^-Strasbourg  Foyer  was  the  scene  of  a  pleasant  mingling'  of 
girls — Alsatian,  French,  German.  Many  Alsatians  did  not  under- 
stand French  and  demanded  classes  in  which  to  learn  it.  Other 
girls  wished  to  learn  English.  Three  courses  in  French  and  three 
in  English  were  organized,  the  most  advanced  of  these  courses 
studying  the  literature.  Musical  classes  were  popular  as  well.  An 
orchestra  of  nine  people  meeting  regularly  for  weekly  rehearsals 
brought  together  students  from  the  conservatories.  Singing 
classes  in  French  and  English  met  fortnightly.  In  all  of  these 
study  classes,  300  pupils  were  enrolled,  many  of  them  taking  sev- 
eral courses.  Lectures  on  such  subjects  as  Suffrage,  Prevention 
of  Tuberculosis,  Washington  and  Lafayette,  were  likewise  popu- 
lar. A  Swedish  director  was  found  to  take  charge  of  gymnastics 
and  sports. 

One  feature  of  the  new  work  in  the  period  of  Foyer  expansion 
which  followed  the  Armistice  and  the  organization  of  the  Pro- 
visional Council,  was  closer  cooperation  with  the  French  women's 
organizations.  The  five  organizations  which  had  merged  to  form 
the  Provisional  Council  were  now  prepared  to  take  over  gradually 
and  effectively  the  work  undertaken  by  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
Some  of  this  was  new  work.  Some  was  work  already  being  done, 
but  enlarged  and  made  use  of,  as  a  war  emergency.  Beginning 
with  the  last  period  of  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  activity  in  France, 
the  work  was  carried  on  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  five 
organizations.  Thus  the  work  of  Strasbourg  Foyer  came  under 
the  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles  and,  although  organized  by 
an  American  secretary,  was  to  be  taken  over  entirely  by  that 
organization. 

The  National  Council  of  French  Women  was  meeting  in  Stras- 
bourg at  the  time  the  Foyer  was  opened,  October  8,  9,  10,  1919. 
In  attendance  were  Madame  Millerand  (wife  of  the  then  Governor 
General  of  the  restored  provinces  arid  later,  when  M.  Millerand  be- 

54 


came  President,  the  First  Lady  of  France)  and  other  notable 
women  of  France.  These<  all  visited  the  new  Foyer  with  much 
interest  having  already  known  of  the  work  through  their  participa- 
tion in  the  Provisional  Council. 

The  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles,  the  French  national 
organization  officially  a  part  of  the  World's  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  had  received 
much  cooperation  from  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  since  the  be- 
ginning of  its  work.  Like  every  other  organization  in  France,  the 
U.  C.  J.  F.  had  kept  up  the  struggle  for  the  sake  of  the  girls  who 
looked  to  them  for  inspiration,  help,  in  many  cases  for  a  home. 
In  the  Devastated  Regions  of  the  north  a  number  of  ''Unions"  had 
been  given  such  financial  aid  as  would  enable  them  not  only  to 
fit  into  the  war  emergency  but  to  continue  their  existence  meet- 
ing permanent  needs  through  activities  similar  to  those  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  the  United  States.  In  Strasbourg  the  Foyer  organ- 
ized was  to  become  a  permanent  "Union"  work.  In  Bordeaux  the 
Foyer  opened  in  October,  1919,  was  under  "Union"  (U.  C.  J.  F.) 
auspices.  In  Paris  the  Foyer  organized  March,  1919,  at  4  rue  la 
Vrilliere  with  the  cooperation  of  the  U.  C.  J.  F.  was  to  be  taken 
•over  as  a  permanent  center  by  this  organization  and  in  new  quar- 
ters at  9  rue  Daunou,  to  enlarge  its  usefulness  and  scope  in  a  way 
undreamed  of  at  the  beginning. 

At  Nimes,  in  the  south  of  France,  two  French  organizations,  the 
Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles  and  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille 
had  work.  It  was  planned,  with  the  help  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  to 
open  a  Foyer  at  Nimes  in  which  the  two  organizations  should 
join,  because  Nimes  was  a  strong  center  for  U.  C.  J.  F.  work  and 
a  city,  although  not  strictly  industrial,  yet  possessing  factories, 
the  need  for  a  larger  work  for  girls  was  great.  With  an  Ameri- 
can secretary  in  charge,  the  Foyer  was  opened  in  Decem- 
ber, 1919,  in  an  attractive  house  well  adapted  to  home  life  for 
girls.  In  this  house  about  fifty  girls  might  come  for  meals  and  a 
smaller  number  occupy  rooms.  With  a  large,  light  room  for 
classes  and  a  long,  enclosed  piazza  for  recreation,  the  house  was 
ready  to  undertake  the  usual  Foyer  activities.  Through  this  co- 
operation plan  the  two  permanent  organizations  were  assisted  and 
a  new  center  made  possible  for  girls. 

At  Marseille  a  Foyer  had  existed  twenty-five  years  run  by  two 
French  women  who  kept  it  open  as  a  home,  accommodating  about 
forty  girls  and  filling  a  need  in  that  port  city  in  which  living  con- 
ditions for  girls  were  beyond  description.  With  an  economy  that 
seemed  miraculous,  the  house  had  been  run  until  it  had  reached  a 
state  of  threadbare  necessity.  Cooking  utensils  were  used  up.  The 
armoire  with  only  one  spare  sheet  in  it,  showed  the  impossibility 
of  changing  the  sheets  oftener  than  every  two  months.  The  beds 
in  some  cases  were  dropping  to  pieces  from  old  age.  This  Mar- 
seille boarding  home  is  typical  of  the  need  in  many  centers  in 
France  where  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  able  to  step  in  with  financial 
aid  to  tide  them  over  a  crisis  and  put  them  on  their  feet  again. 

Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille  had  a  number  of  centers  in  the  south 

55 


of  France.  At  Marseille,  the  second  city  of  France  in  population 
and  a  city  of  world-wide  reputation  for  vice,  the  needs  of  safe- 
guarding girlhood  were  so  great  that  it  was  decided  to  open  under 
the  auspices  of  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille  a  Foyer  to  be  known  as  the 
Maison  de  la  Jeune  Fille.  The  house  was  ready  for  operation  July 
12,  1919.  Within  three  months  there  was  aj  membership  of  200 
girls  to  enjoy  the  club  activities  and  classes,  an  average  of  twenty 
girls  occupying  the  six  bedrooms  every  night  and  an  average  of 
one  hundred  for  lunch  and  dinner  at  the  restaurant.  "No  thought- 
ful person  could  walk  the  streets  of  Marseille,  seeing  the  hundreds 
of  girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age  without  wondering  where  and 
what  its  preventive  agencies  are.  A  great  Friendly  House  was 
needed — a  place  where  girls  could  know  each  other,  uniting  for  the 
development  of  self-expression  whether  in  a  social,  educational  or 
spiritual  way.  "This  Is  our  ideal  and  idea  for  the  Maison  de  la 
Jeune  Fille  of  Marseille,"  writes  the  secretary.  "We  have  not 
attained  this  great  ideal,  nor  do  we  expect  to  in  a  few  weeks,  but  it 
shall  be  the  star  that  beckons  higher  and  higher." 

At  Montpellier,  a  university  town  of  30,000  situated  five  miles 
from  the  Mediterranean,  a  Foyer  de  la  Jeune  Fille,  founded  in 
1914  by  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille,  had  become  a  community 
center  for  the  young  people.  Here  the  U.  C.  J.  F.  held  meetings 
for  their  350  members.  A  Foyer  du  Soldat  had  operated  during  the 
war;  and  here,  too,  numbers  of  Americans  had  directed  their  steps. 
When  700  members  of  the  A.  E.  F.  became  students  at  the  Uni- 
versity, this  Foyer,  therefore,  seemed  a  legitimate  field  of  activity 
for  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Through  the  efforts  of  a  secretary 
sent  to  cooperate  with  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille,  the  Foyer  took 
on  new  life.  With  the  purpose  of  amplifying  the  work  at  hand, 
committees  on  finance,  recreation,  education,  housing,  libraries, 
religious  work  and  "solidarite"  were  set  in  operation.  Club  work 
was  made  a  part  of  the  program.  The  club  organized  in  May, 
1919,  found  itself  strong  enough  a  year  later  to  consider  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Foyer  at  Armentieres,  thus  contributing  of  their  bounty 
a  bit  of  new  life  to  a  suffering  center  of  the  north. 

At  La  Rochelle  a  Foyer  de  la  Jeune  Fille  was  opened  in  September, 
1919,  under  the  auspices  of  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille  to  furnish  lodg- 
ing for  thirty  girls,  restaurant  accommodation  for  seventy-five,  and  club 
and  class  rooms.  Before  the  end  of  the  second  month,  the  membership 
had  reached  200  and  the  average  daily  number  served  at  the  res- 
taurant, under  the  expert  management  of  a  French  Directrice,  was 
120.  The  head  of  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille  in  La  Rochelle  was 
a  woman  described  by  the  secretary  as  seventy-four  years  young. 
"Not  once  has  she  ever  refused  to  go  with  me  or  help  in  any  project 
that  would  make  for  the  success  of  the  Foyer  de  la  Jeune  Fille. 
While  practically  all  of  our  methods  of  work  are  new  to  her,  she 
has  enthusiastically  accepted  most  of  them  and  will  do  all  in  her 
power  to  carry  on  the  work  as  we  wish  it,  believing  that  the  wider 
and  longer  experience  of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  justifies 
this." 

56 


At  Lyon  the  Committee  of  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille  was  oper- 
ating three  Foyers.  The  best  of  these  at  12  rue  Pierre  Corneille 
was  chosen  by  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  as  a  center  whose  use- 
fulness should  be  enlarged.  A  little  effort  brought  tremendous 
results,  transforming  the  Foyer  from  a  dark,  unattractive  place 
into  a  comfortable,  livable  home  for  forty-four  young  women.  Cer- 
tain rearrangements  facilitated  a  better  use  of  the  building  and 
made  possible  the  addition  of  a  restaurant  in  Paris,  a  Foyer  de 
la  Jeune  Fille,  which  had  undergone  severe  trials  and  tribulations 
during  the  war,  was  put  on  its  feet  again. 

The  Association  Chretienne  d'Etudiantes,  an  organization  that  in- 
terested itself  in  the  living  conditions  and  welfare  of  students,  found 
on  its  hands  an  after-war  problem  that  called  for  outside  assistance. 
The  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  comprising  in  itself  a  student  move- 
ment, was  quick  to  see  and  feel  the  needs  of  students  in  France. 
For  them  congested  housing  conditions  meant  greater  hardships 
than  usual.  No  such  thing  as  campus  life  existed.  To  live  in 
isolated  boarding  houses,  sometimes  far  from  the  college,  was  the 
best  they  could  hope  for,  unaided.  Through  the  assistance  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  Association  Chretienne  des  Etudiantes  was  able 
to  provide  Student  Hostels  in  certain  cities.  Many  university  centers 
had  become  crowded  because  of  the  presence  of  American  troops. 
SuchI  were  Bordeaux  and  Grenoble.  The  Student  Hostels  in  these 
two  places  made  possible  not  only  pleasant  living  conditions,  but 
a  life  in  common  that  brought  new  spirit  for  work.  At  Lille  a 
Hostel  had  been  provided  as  a  part  of  the  program  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
work  in  that  city.  In  Paris  two  Hostels  were  opened.  One  was  at 
51  Rue  Gcoflfroy  St.  Hilaire.  The  other,  at  93  Boulevard  St.  Michel, 
had  been  the  original  International  Student  Hostel  of  Paris,  made 
possible  by  the  gift  of  an  American  woman  who  saw  the  needs 
years  ago.  In  the  fall  of  1919  this  Hostel  was  reopened  as  an  Interna- 
tional Student  Center,  to  be  a  meet  place  for  students  from  all  over 
the  world,  and  a  center  from  which  would  radiate  leadership  in  the 
student  activities  of  many  countries.  Twenty-five  students  could 
be  accommodated  in  the  house,  and  in  order  to  preserve  its  inter- 
national character  the  number  from  a  given  nationality  was  limited. 
Under  the  leadership  of  an  American  secretary,  the  Hostel  made 
great  strides  in  1919-1920  toward  attaining  its  high  ideals.  Stu- 
dents as  much  as  any  other  grofip  had  felt  the  eflfects  of  war  through 
interrupted  careers  and  changed  outlooks.  Students  more  than  any 
other  group  must  be  safeguarded  from  the  dangers  following  war 
in  order  to  preserve  for  the  world  their  safe,  sane  leadership. 

The  Foyer  des  AUiees  section  of  the  Provisional  Council,  in  order 
to  make  permanent  the  work  begun  as  war  emergency  and  to  leave 
results  at  such  time  as  American  workers  should  be  withdrawn, 
took  into  its  council  the  committee  operating  the  "Foyers  Can- 
tines."  The  work  of  the  "Foyer  Cantines"  had  been  that  which 
most  nearly  paralleled  the  work  of  the  Foyers  des  Alliees.  It  seemed 
wise,  therefore,  that  the  two  should  merge  into  permanent  work. 
The  "Foyers  Cantines"  had  organized  under  a  small  local  commit- 

57 


tee.  Plans  were  made  to  enlarge  and  nationalize  this  committee 
making  it  a  body  strong  enough  to  undertake  the  supervision  of  this 
extensive  movement.  The  women  who  had  given  the  first  word  of 
encouragement  and  cooperation  to  the  American  secretaries  when 
they  arrived  in  France  and  who  had  watched  the  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  work  and  helped  form  the  Provisional  Council,  were 
the  women  who  now  undertook  the  responsibility  of  making  that 
work  of  permanent  use.  The  Foyers  that  would  be  directed  by 
this  committee  were  those  of  Armentieres,  Bourges,  Lyon  (11  rue 
Puits-Gaillot),  Mulhouse,  Paris  (6  rue  Solfernino),  Reims,  Roanne, 
St.  Etienne  and  Tours. 

The  Provisional  Council  held  its  final  meeting  December  2-3, 
1919,  to  hear  the  results  and  final  recommendations  of  its  commis- 
sions. This  group  of  women,  French  and  American,  who  for  a  year 
had  studied  together  conditions  and  needs  among  women  in  France 
had  accomplished  certain,  definite  things.  The  establishment  of  re- 
lationships of  friendships  and  cooperation  between  women's  organ- 
izations, the  development  of  "illustration-types"  of  work  in  selected 
places  had  grown  from  vague  ideals  into  visible  facts.  ^^Moreover, 
a  new  confidence  of  friendship  between  the  women  of  France  and  of 
America  has  sprung  up  from  a  root  so  firm  as  to  be  unshaken  by 
the  fickle  gusts  of  popularii^  The  many  notable  names,  both 
French  and  American,  whicfiappeared  on  the  roll  of  the  Provi- 
sional Council  were  a  demonstration  of  the  fact  that  to  this  joint 
work  for  women  in  France,  America  and  France  had  given  of  their 
best.  The  reports  of  the  several  commissions  were  printed  for 
wider  usefulness.  The  great,  tangible  evidence  of  their  work  was 
in  the  number  of  Foyers  newly  organized  or  rejuvenated  which 
stretched  across  France.  The  Provisional  Council  approved  the  new 
lineup  of  this  work  for  women  as  outlined  under  the  four  organiza- 
tions :  The  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles,  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune 
Fille,  the  Association  Chretienne  d'Etudiantes,  and  the  Foyers  des 
Alliees,  which  had  now  merged  with  the  "Foyers  Cantines." 

Many  American  secretaries  had  signified  their  desire  to  remain  in 
France  as  long  as  needed.  Certain  places  felt  their  aid  indispensable. 
Through  their  training  and  efficiency  as  well  as  their  broad  outlooks 
and  freedom,  they  found  themselves  in  positions  of  leadership  which 
put  them  in  command  of  local  situations  and  above  local  entangle- 
ments. Many  secretaries,  therefor^,  remained  in  France  through 
1920  assigned  to  help  in  an  advisory  capacity  the  French  national 
organizations  which  were  taking  over  the  work  and  to  give  time 
specifically  to  two  or  three  type  places.  The  total  number  of  Amer- 
ican secretaries  sent  to  France  was  289.  This  included  all  the  work- 
ers. May  1,  1920,  the  number  of  American  secretaries  in  France 
was  sixty-seven. 

The  work  of  the  American  secretaries  in  French  work  in  1919 
and  1920  was  originally  that  of  leadership.  The  Foyer  idea,  re- 
ceived with  such  enthusiasm  by  French  girls,  must  find  leaders 
among  the  French  themselves.  Closer  and  stronger  were  drajaoi 
the  lines  of  cooperation  and  friendship  among  the  Foyers.,    In  the 

S8 


summer  of  1919  it  was  found  wise  to  gather  together  all  the  secre- 
taries in  French  work  for  conference  on  the  problems  and  permanent 
aspects  of  the  work.  Through  the  great  kindness  of  a  French 
woman,  Mile,  de  Montmort,  the  Chateau  d'Argeronne  was  put  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  a  summer  conference,  August  30  to 
September  6,  1919.  In  this  place  of  spacious  hospitality  and  beauty, 
the  secretaries  met,  discussed,  learned  and  went  away  inspired.  In 
order  to  see  more  deeply  into  the  lives  of  the  French,  in  order  to 
know  and  understand  the  currents  of  thought,  the  better  to  enable 
the  girls  in  their  charge  to  stem  the  tide,  these  secretaries  thought 
and  planned  together.  The  conference  movement  spread  to  include 
the  girls  themselves,  and  in  the  summer  of  1919  and  1920  French 
girls  were  meeting  for  discussion  of  their  own  Foyer  work  and  the 
movement  as  a  whole. 

It  was  natural  that  the  Foyers  should  feel  the  influence  of  the 
new  movements  of  cooperation.  Some  of  the  Foyers  which  were 
oldest  were  the  first  to  feel  it.  Lyon,  the  scene  of  the  first  industrial 
Foyer,  had  now  a  city  Foyer  operating  a  restaurant.  St.  Etienne, 
where  the  Foyer  had  always  shown  a  singular  degree  of  initiative 
and  where  the  members  themselves  had  already  started  in  editing  a 
little  journal  of  their  own,  continued  to  feel  an  increase  in  members 
and  in  interest.  Bourges,  once  the  home  of  three  Foyers  in  the 
days  when  munition  workers  crowded  the  streets,  possessing  still  its 
city  Foyer,  moved  into  new  quarters  at  3  Place  Georges  Sand  where 
lodging  and  restaurant  facilities  were  possible.  Roanne,  still  op- 
erated its  Foyer  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Building  with  under- 
takings on  the  part  of  the  membership  which  inspired  other  Foyers. 
In  the  spring  of  1919  a  wonderful  pageant  given  on  a  farm  just  out 
of  Roanne,  loaned  by  the  Mayor  for  the  purpose,  portrayed  the  his- 
tory of  the  women  in  France  from  the  days  of  St.  Genevieve  deliver- 
ing Paris  and  Jeanne  d'Arc  before  Orleans  to  women's  participation 
in  the  war  of  1914-1918,  an  artistic  production  which  was  later  en- 
joyed in  other  Foyers.  Tours  continued  its  Foyer  work  in  the  old 
business  house  at  19  rue  Marceau  and  its  recreation  hours  on  the 
Isle  Simon  in  the  Loire  River.  In  the  four  Foyers  of  St.  Etienne, 
Bourges,  Roanne  and  Tours,  a  membership  campaign  was  conducted 
in  the  fall  of  1919  with  all  the  publicity  and  team  work  of  a  thriving 
American  Association.  Imaginary  airships  were  to  be  raced  across 
the  Atlantic,  helped  on  their  way  by  the  number  of  members  pro- 
cured. Enthusiasm  was  great.  The  result  showed  a  total  of  2,716 
new  members  for  the  four  Foyers  and  results  in  loyalty,  appreciation 
and  comradeship  which  were  immeasurable.  Lyon  had  a  similar 
campaign. 

In  Paris  the  Foyer  at  6  rue  Solferino  still  operating  under  the  re- 
quest of  the  Ministry  of  War  was  meeting  continued  success  with 
the  supervision  of  a  French  secretary.  This  Foyer  designed  for 
the  girls  who  worked  at  the  Ministry,  had  met  the  situation  in  a 
way  that  commended  the  Foyer  movement  in  its  application  to  par- 
ticular groups.  Housed  in  the  most  attractive  of  club  rooms,  this 
Foyer  was  notable  as  having  opened  in  the  midst  of  the  bombardment 

59 


of  June,  1918,  and  having  helped  to  keep  steady  the  thousand  and 
more  girls  who  came  into  its  membership. 

The  Foyer  at  4  rue  La  Vrilliere,  Paris,  operated  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles,  was  chosen  as  the 
one  Paris  Foyer  to  be  made  an  *'illustration-type"  of  a  model  of 
work  for  girls  along  the  lines  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  New  quarters  at 
3  rue  Daunou  were  secured  and,  after  long  and  patient  waiting, 
were  in  readiness  for  the  great  opening  on  February  29,  1920.  A 
building  which  would  house  forty,  with  restaurant  capacity  for 
400,  and  class  and  assembly  rooms  adequate,  needed  only  the 
swarms  of  young  and  gay  French  girls  to  make  it  complete,,  and 
the  girls  were  ready  to  do  their  share.  Long  had  they  waited. 
"Notre  Foyer"  had  been  well  advertised  during  the  long  delay  of 
its  preparation.  The  greatly  anticipated  Semaine  d'Ouverture 
brought  its  week  of  gaiety,  the  more  gay  for  the  energy  stored  up 
in  waiting.  THe  first  day,  Sunday  afternoon,  by  way  of  a  general 
introduction  brought  together  the  friends  and  members  of  the 
Foyer  to  join  in  the  little  program.  There  followed  a  week  of  con- 
tinual open  house,  exhibits,  and  introductions  to  the  new  order  of 
things.  On  March  4  the  cafeteria  opened,  prepared  to  serve  a  large 
number,  according  to  the  conservative  French  chef,  but  not  large 
enough  for  the  368  who  came.  The  next  day  more  food  and  416 
fed.  The  dinner  hour  was  not  so  crowded,  as  was  to  be  expected. 
Tea  was  served  also.  Another  feature  of  the  Come  And  See  Week, 
which  brought  the  French  and  Americans  to  the  building,  was  an 
exhibition  of  gymnastics.  A  large  group  of  Foyer  girls  dressed 
alike  in  middy  blouses  and  bloomers  gave  a  drill  and  from  the  audi- 
ence brought  cries  of  "Bravo !  Bravo !"  "Notre  Foyer,"  as  the  new 
Dlace  was  called,  gathered  in  girls  from  all  the  Paris  Foyers,  La 
Vrilliere,  Solferino,  "Notre  Dame  de  Nazareth" — old  faces  well- 
known  and  loved  and  many  new  ones,  all  in  one  long  line  and  all 
happy.  They  were  used  to  waiting  in  line,  and  wasn't  it  worth 
waiting  any  length  of  time  for  that  wonderful  lunch  for  three  francs 
or  less,  served  in  "Notre  Foyer,"  their  very  own?  By  the  end  of 
the  first  month,  the  total  number  of  paid  up  memberships  was  more 
than  1,200,  representing  forty-two  trades,  and  over  800  were  being 
fed  at  lunch.  If  the  success  of  the  first  week  was  an  omen  for  the 
future,  the  Foyer  at  rue  Daunou  will  be  a  great  success. 

The  French  public  in  general  was  understanding  the  Foyer  move- 
ment better  than  ever  before.  Several  efiforts  had  been  made  at 
publicity.  In  March,  1919,  when  the  famous  Fair  of  Lyon  was  re- 
sumed, a  special  booth  reserved  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  told  the  story 
of  the  aims  and  ambitions  of  the  Foyers,  with  the  aid  of  cinema  and 
lectures  in  French.  As  many  people  as  could  crowd  into  the  small 
space  filled  many  times  daily,  were  enlightened  as  to  this  new  and 
spirited  "oeuvre"  that  had  come  among  them. 

Great  was  the  delight  of  the  American  secretaries  when  they 
made  a  new  convert  to  the  social  and  democratic  work  represented 
in  the  Foyers.  The  crying  need  was  for  leaders  among  the  French 
since  it  must  be  the  French  themselves  who  interpreted  the  work 

6o 


to  their  nation.  In  order  to  meet  this  need  for  France  and  for  other 
countries  as  well,  an  Emergency  Training  School  was  held  in  Paris, 
July  15-October  15,  1919,  to  which  came  forty-five  young  women, 
many  of  them  University  girls,  from  thirteen  different  nations: 
England,  Scotland,  France,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  Norway,  Portugal, 
Italy,  Greece,  Serbia,  Roumania,  Russia,  Poland.  For  three  months 
lectures  twice  a  day  in  French  or  English  introduced  them  to  such 
subjects  as  social  service,  recreation  and  social  aspects  of  education 
helped  them  solve  their  religious  problems  and  invited  them  to  visit 
industrial  and  social  centers  in  Paris.  The  result  was  an  output  of 
young  women,  aroused  to  new  interest  in  social  leadership  and  to 
enthusiasm  to  carry  on  to  other  women  the  good  word  of  social 
democracy  with  the  highest  ideals.  Not  only  was  it  literally  true 
that  "those  who  came  to  scoff  remained  to  pray"  but  girls  who  had 
come  to  Paris  as  much  for  a  lark  as  anything  else  remained  in 
France  to  undertake  serious  work. 

International  Relationships. — ^The  Paris  headquarters  of  the 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  although  not  a  continental  office,  had  be- 
come a  center  through  which  passed  secretaries  en  route  to  or  from 
Russia,  Italy,  Poland,  Czecho-Slovakia,  Belgium,  Roumania  and  the 
Near  East.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  work  of  the  Ameri- 
can Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France  should  strengthen  international  relation- 
ships. At  the  very  beginning  the  French  work  had  been  under- 
taken in  cooperation  with  the  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles, 
the  French  national  organization  working  under  the  World's  Com- 
mittee. In  the  work  for  WAACS  and  in  the  British-American  Qub 
in  Havre,  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  worked  in  close  coopera- 
tion with  the  British  Y.  W.  C.  A.  In  August,  1918,  at  the  end  of 
that  summer  which  had  seen  the  close  drawing  of  the  lines  about 
the  Allies  who  shared  a  common  danger  and  a  unity  of  command 
which  preserved  victory,  the  women,  too,  gathered  in  an  inter- 
allied mass  meeting  to  exert  their  unity  and  strengthen  bonds.  The 
significance  of  the  gathering  was  its  international  aspect.  Ameri- 
cans were  present  representing  every  war  working  group :  British 
women  in  the  uniforms  of  the  WAACS  and  the  ambulance  drivers, 
women  who  had  seen  hard  service  and  women  in  plain  dress  whose 
service  less  conspicuous  was  none  the  less  wholehearted.  The 
French"  women  present  represented  every  group  in  French  society 
from  the  wife  of  the  President  to  the  woman  who  toiled  by  the  day. 
The  munition  workers  who  came  from  their  work  at  the  usines 
being  allowed  the  time  by  the  government  were  full  of  awe  at  their 
own  part  in  the  gathering.  The  wonder  of  those  meetings  where  all 
seemed  on  an  equal  basis  and  worker  and  lady  of  leisure  were  re- 
ceived with  equal  pleasure  opened  before  them  new  vistas  of  the  pur- 
pose of  it  all  as  they  realized  as  never  before  what  was  felt  of  inter- 
est and  appreciation  for  the  French  factory  girl.  "We  were  the 
admiration  of  everybody,"  said  the  delegate  from  one  munition 
Foyer  as  she  made  her  report,  and  when  the  other  ouvrieres  laughed 
she  added,  "Well,  its  true."  Many  of  the  representative  French 
women,    interested    in    economic    and    social    questions,    sought    the 

6i 


ouvrieres  at  Poincare's  reception  and  encouraged  them  to  tell  of  con- 
ditions in  their  respective  factories  and  claims  for  improvement 
and  their  appreciation  of  the  Foyers  des  Alliees.  What  this  worker 
did  not  tell  in  her  report  was  the  feverish  interest  with  which  she 
went  down  the  long  line  to  shake  the  hand  of  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  so  anxiously  fumbling  with  her  glove  lest  it  should  not 
look  just  right  to  clasp  the  President's  hand  that  in  her  absorbed 
attention,  she  passed  the  President  by  without  knowing  it.  Other 
examples  of  the  international  aspect  of  the  work  in  France  were  the 
Emergency  Training  School  and  the  International  Student  Hostel. 

Port  and  Transport  Work 

There  was  one  emergency  which  arose  in  France  for  which  the 
American  Army  was  not  prepared.  This  was  the  care  for  brides. 
The  great  fighting  organization  of  the  A.  E.  F.  had  not  taken  into 
account  the  fact  that  many  soldiers  conveyed  overseas  would  take 
unto  themselves  wives  from  the  lands  in  which  they  found  them- 
selves. When,  therefore,  brides  began  coming  in  greater  and 
greater  numbers  to  the  ports  of  embarkation  clad  in  the  full  rights 
of  American  citizenship  through  marriage  to  American  husbands, 
the  Army  was  face  to  face  with  one  of  the  most  baffling  problems 
it  had  yet  confronted.  How  to  care  for  so  many  women,  many  of 
them  with  children,  with  housing  conditions  in  every  port  city 
crowded  to  the  limits  and  with  prices  for  lodging  beyond  the  means 
of  the  ordinary  soldier,  meant  devising  some  scheme  whereby  the 
facilities  of  camp  life  could  be  extended  to  the  brides  with  due  pro- 
vision for  proper  segregation  of  the  women,  and  upkeep  of  morale. 

It  was  to  meet  the  emergency  that  the  American  Army  turned 
to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  As  one  of  the  Army  officers  expressed  it  later : 
"No  organization  without  a  heart  could  do  work  such  as  this."  The 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  ready  to  meet  the  situation.  To  be  prepared  for 
emergencies  had  become  its  watchword  and  no  service  requested  by 
the  American  Army  could  be  overlooked. 

The  ports  at  which  the  brides  congregated  were  Bordeaux,  St. 
Nazaire  and  Brest.  At  Bordeaux  the  Red  Cross  was  assisting  the 
Army  by  housing  the  brides.  To  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Hostess  House 
they  looked  for  help  in  the  problem  of  feeding  them.  In  and  out 
of  the  Hostess  House  they  poured  not  only  with  a  view'  to  food 
but  with  all  their  problems  and  all  their  needs,  some  of  them  with 
babies.  And  the  babies  constituted  a  problem  in  a  military  situa- 
tion. For  two  months  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  rented  an  apartment  which 
was  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  wives  of  soldiers  with  small  babies. 
At  the  end  of  May,  a  camp  was  established  for  brides  at  Genicart 
in  connection  with  the  Army  Camp,  a  short  distance  from  Bor- 
deaux. One  corner  of  the  large  camp  occupied  by  the  Army  was 
fenced  ofif,  enclosing  enough  barracks  to  furnish  sleeping  quarters, 
living  rooms,  dining  room  and  kitchen(  for  the  brides  and  with  a 
recreation  tent  or  pavilion  for  an  out-of-door  gathering  place  when 
the  weather  permitted.  The  entire  bride  camp  was  in  charge  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  under  direct  Army  supervision.    Through  her 

62 


friendliness  with  the  women,  she  soon  found  their  capacities  and 
was  able  to  organize  accordingly  with  certain  of  them  on  duty  as 
K.  P/s  in,  the  kitchen,  others  in  the  dining  room  or  the  barracks  as 
needed.  Any  casual  visitor  might  find  a  lively  scene  at  the  camp : 
the  cheerful  voices,  sometimes  singing  and  hurried  footsteps  of 
those  on  duty,  suggesting  an  atmosphere  of  pleasant  work  in  con- 
trast to  the  numbers  who  sat  about  in  couples  out-of-doors  or  in 
the  pavilion  not  working  or  even  talking,  just  having  a  good  time. 
With  many  it  was  a  case  of  silently  getting  acquainted  with  their  hus- 
bands since  neither  spoke  the  other's  language  and  many  were  the 
cases  in  which  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  acted  as  interpreter  between  husband 
and  wife. 

At  St.  Nazaire  the  secretary  arrived  May  2,  1919,  and  the  bride 
camp  was  open  for  business  May  17.  Between  those  two  dates  an 
enormous  amount  of  work  had  been  accomplished.  The  small  shack 
formerly  the  camp  bakery,  had  been  completely  renovated  and 
made  into  the  very  attractive,  little  "Bungalow  Hostess  House," 
cut  off  from  the  roadway  by  a  rustic  fence  and  high  gate  bearing 
the  name,  and  separated  by  a  small  stream  from  the  big,  bustling 
men's  camp  (the  camp  which  had  seen  the  first  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hut  in 
France.  The  camp  at  which  many  soldiers  had  landed  and  from 
which  many  would  depart).  The  bungalow  was  the  entrance  way  to 
a  series  of  barracks  which  formed  sleeping  quarters,  dining  room 
and  kitchen  and  one  large  recreation  barracks  and  one  open 
pavilion,  which  took  care  of  the  activities  of  the  brides.  The 
speedy  preparations  had  been  made  possible  by  the  labor  of  Ger- 
man prisoners  and  the  hearty  cooperation  not  only  of  the  Army 
officers  but  of  individual  soldiers  as  interested  in  the  venture  as 
the  women  themselves.  On  May  23,  all  these  soldiers  who  had 
worked  on  the  place  as  electricians,  plumbers,  carpenters,  etc, 
were  invited  to  a  party  with  real  ice-cream  and  cake.  One  of 
the  German  prisoners  sent  the  hostess  a  present  containing  the 
words : 

"Fr^i  zu  sein,  grosses  Gluck! 
Gefangen    sein,    herb    Geschick!" 

The  formal  opening  occurred  on  May  24  with  a  band  to  furnish 
music  and  the  place  open  for  inspection.  The  General  and  ten 
Army  officers  were  entertained  at  dinner  two  days  later. 

Meantime  the  brides  had  made  themselves  at  home.  They 
filled  one  barrack.  One  barrack  was  kept  for  emergency  use  of 
other  American  women  passing  through  St.  Nazaire,  since  this 
was  the  only  Hostess  House  and  all  the  hotels  were  crowded. 
The  busiest  days  were  those  preceding  Embarkation  Day.  With- 
in twenty-four  hours  a  bride  must  have  physical  examinations, 
baggage  packed  and  examined  and  statements  sworn  to  that  she 
carried  no  bombs  or  explosives.  The  notice  was  always  short 
and  it  usually  meant  the  help  of  everybody  in  camp,  remembering 
all  the  baskets  and  bundles,  getting  everything  attended  to  and 
the  passenger  finally  on  board.     Between  the  rush  days  the  secre- 

63 


tary  found  time  for  a  class  in  English  to  enable  the  brides  to 
acquire  a  little  more  facility  in  talking  to  their  husbands  and  to 
be  able  to  understand  more  of  the  sounds  they  would  hear  in 
their  new  homes.  Any  regular  schedule  was  difficult  because  it 
might  be  interrupted  by  any  sort  of  happening  from  an  epileptic 
fit  to  a  first  quarrel.  Even  weddings  sometimes  happened,  the 
whole  thing  arranged  by  the  secretary  who  knew  the  ropes  and 
who  also  knew  the  heartbreaking  history  which  led  up  to  the 
event. 

The  Army  was  most  appreciative  of  what  was  accomplished  at 
the  bride  camp.  "Thank  God  you  are  here.  You  have  come  at 
the  psychological  moment,"  was  the  welcome  accorded  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  secretary.  The  soldier  husbands  individually  were  grate- 
ful to  these  women  who  were  helping  the  new  wives  to  learn 
something  of  American  ways.  "Why,  these  girls  are  not  even 
used  to  our  ways  of  cleaning,"  they  would  say.  And  the  secre- 
tary herself,  who  found  versatility  to  be  her  greatest  equipment, 
declared  she  "would  not  exchange  for  any  job  in  the  A.  E.  F." 

*T  work  for  the  nation  and  get  a  little  praise.  You  work  for 
its  wards  and  get  much  love.  I  envy  you,"  was  the  comment 
of  an  officer  to  the  secretary.  Although  the  St.  Nazaire  camp  did 
not  care  for  the  largest  number  oi  brides,  it  was  able  to  be  of 
great  service  to  those  who  did  pass  through  the  Bungalow 
Hostess  House  on  their  way  between  loved  homes  in  France  and 
unknown  homes  in  America. 

The  largest  number  of  brides  passed  through  the  port  of  Brest. 
At  first  a  Hostess  House  had  been  used  as  the  temporary  stop- 
ping place.  From  June  1  to  24,  219  brides  and  nine  babies  were 
the  guests  of  the  house  from  one  day  to  three  weeks.  These 
brides  were  on  their  way  to  thirty-eight  different  states.  As  the 
numbers  increased,  it  was  found  necessary  to  house  the  brides  at 
an  Army  Camp,  known  as  the  Women's  Camp  at  Camp  Bouguen, 
three  miles  out  of  Brest.  With  ten  barrack?,  five  used  for  sleep- 
ing quarters,  capacity  fifty,  with  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  worker  in  charge 
of  each  of  the  four,  and  the  fifth  used  for  a  nursery  in  charge  of 
two  Army  nurses,  the  camp  was  equipped  for  its  work.  Other 
barracks  were  used  for  offices,  recreation  and  mess  halls  and 
emergency  and  supply  barracks.  The  supplies  consisted  of  cloth- 
ing and  shoes  furnished  by  the  Red  Cross  to  be  used  upon  advice 
of  the  barrack  supervisors.  The  emergency  barracks  were  used 
for  those  arriving  on  late  night  trains.  Sometimes  there  were  as 
many  as  twenty-five  babies  and  young  children  with  their  moth- 
ers in  the  nursery.  From  the  sounds  heard  during  the  morning 
hours,  one  gathered  that  first  lessons  in  the  art  of  American 
bathing  were   in   progress. 

The  secretary  in  charge  of  one  of  the  barracks  writes :  "When 
I  arrived  on  the  24th  of  June,  1919,  I  found  about  200  brides  in 
camp  awaiting  sailings.  Every  day  has  brought  in  a  new  group 
and  three  groups  have  gone  out.  From  the  observation  of  ten 
days  I  realized  what  a  wonderful  opportunity  is  given  to  workers 

64 


in  the  midst  of  this  camp  for  some  real  lessons  in  American  citi- 
zenship. For  most  of  the  women  it  is  their  first  step  into  Ameri- 
can life,  for  most  their  first  contact  with  American  women.  Dur- 
ing their  brief  stay  here,  it  is  the  chance  to  give  them  the  begin- 
nings of  American  customs,  language,  standards  of  dress,  ideals, 
etc. 

"In  my  own  barracks  of  fifty  I  have  the  most  interesting  variety 
of  personalities,  women  of  different  ages,  nationality,  training, 
ability  and  standards.  There  are  eight  Russian  girls,  one  Egyp- 
tain,  one  Algerian,  one  Alsatian,  and  the  others  from  every  part 
of  France.  They  come  from  all  walks  of  life.  One  woman  of 
twenty-two  worked  in  a  munition  factory  fifteen  months  during 
the  war  on  night  shift  and  as  a  result  was  blind  for  one  month, 
and  even  yet  has  difficulty  with  her  eyes.  The  woman  next  her 
is  the  only  child  of  a  French  titled  family,  who  has  never 
known  a  day's  work,  who  found  Army  barracks  a  great  contrast 
to  her  chauteau  and  yet  who  was  much  more  game  than  many 
others.  Not  more  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  women  speak  or  under- 
stand English.  Many  are  having  their  first  lessons  in  home- 
making  through  the  care  of  their  own  cots  and  barrack  sections; 
some  their  first  lessons  in  the  value  of  fresh  air.  Many  are  learn- 
ing lessons  in  self-control^_JLcould  go  on  and  on.  The  place  is 
fascinating  and  strategic.  \These  women  are  American  citizens 
and  it  is  a  marvelous  chance  to  start  to  make  real  the  ideals  these 
women  have  of  America  and  American  people.  I  am  glad  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  ^delegated  to  do  this  service  and  expects  to 
follow  it  up  in  AmericaJ' 

Cemetery  Rest  Huts 

The  summer  of  1919  saw  the  beginning  of  a  great  number  of 
sacred  pilgrimages  to  see  the  last  resting  place  of  American  sol- 
diers fallen  in  France.  The  military  cemeteries  are  situated  neces- 
sarily in  the  Devastated  Regions  where  hotel  accommodations  are 
difficult  and  sometimes  impossible  to  secure.  American  relatives 
making  sad  journeys  to  these  places  often  found  themselves  at 
nightfall  far  from  habitation.  If  an  Army  Camp  was  near,  they 
were  frequently  entertained  by  the  officers  who  gave  up  their  own 
billets  for  this  hospitality,  but  an  American  Army  Camp  in 
France  naturally  had  no  facilities  for  the  entertainnment  of  such 
guests.  It  was  at  the  request  of  the  Army  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
undertook  the  work  of  establishing  rest  huts  in  some  of  the  cem- 
eteries. The  cemetery  at  Romagne,  which  contains  21,000  graves, 
is  twelve  miles  from  the  railroad  and  absolutely  without  accommo- 
dations for  visitors.  Here  two  barracks  were  turned  over  to  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  one  to  be  used  for  sitting  room,  dining  room  and 
kitchen  attached,  and  the  other  to  be  partitioned  off  into  two 
rooms,  one  for  housing  men  and  the  other  for  women,  and  fur- 
nished with  supplies  by  the  Red  Cross.  In  September,  1919,  two 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  took  charge  with  a  simple  plan  for  receiv- 
ing guests,  furnishing  the  needed  cup  of  tea  or  a  little  food,  keep- 

65 


ing  them  for  the  night  if  necessary,  above  all  bringing  them  in 
their  forlorn  sadness  into  an  atmosphere  of  welcome  and  thought- 
fulness.  This  little  spot  in  a  wilderness  of  white  crosses  stretch- 
ing up  the  hillside  and  surrounded  by  the  stars  and  stripes  gives 
the  one  touch  of  sympathy  and  neighborliness. 

A  letter  written  in  January,  1920,  describes  the  experience  of  one 
father  and  mother:  "Having  just  returned  from  a  trip  to  France, 
where  I  went  to  find  my  boy's  grave  in  the  national  cemetery  at 
Romagne-sous-Montfaucon,  you  may  be  interested  to  learn  some- 
thing of  my  experiences  and  what  I  think  of  the  work  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  maintaining  a  Hostess  House  for  visiting  relatives 
in  that  out-of-the-way  place.  In  the  first  place  the  government 
sends  printed  information  saying  that  you  can  reach  this  ceme- 
tery by  taking  a  train  from  Paris  to  Bar  le  Due  and  changing 
cars  from  Verdun,  then  change  cars  again  for  Dun  and  from  there 
you  are  supposed  to  take  a  conveyance  of  some  kind  to  Romagne. 
France  is  very  short  of  coal  and  a  great  many  of  the  trains  have 
been  discontinued  altogether,  and  all  trains  are  likely  to  be 
stopped  at  any  time  and  what  trains  are  running  are  very  slow. 
It  took  us  eight  and  one-half  hours  to  get  from  Boulogne  to  Paris, 
when  the  old  schedule  was  two  hours  and  one-half.  Anyone;  fol- 
lowing these  instructions  would  probably  have  to  spend  the  night 
in  Bar  le  Due  and  another  night  in  Verdun,  as  none  of  these  trains 
connect,  and  when  they  arrived  at  'Dun  they  would  be  met  with 
the  fact  there  are  no  vehicles  in  the  town  and  if  there  were  auto- 
mobiles, it  would  be  impossible  to  run  them  as  there  is  no  gaso- 
lene in  that  part  of  the  country.  I  have  just  learned  that  the 
bridge  at  Dun  is  now  washed  away.  This  leaves  them  with  a 
walk  of  about  eight  miles  through  the  rain  and  mud  at  this  sea- 
son of  the  year  (because  it  rains  every  day  during  the  winter), 
and  when  they  arrive  at  Romagne,  the  only  place  to  stay  over- 
night or  get  a  meal  within  twenty-five  miles  in  any  direction  is 
the  little,  portable  wooden  building  run  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  We 
arrived  in  the  dark  and  I  can  assure  you  that  the  light  from  this 
little  house  looked  very  hospitable,  as  all  of  the  towns  we  had 
been  passing  through  were  entirely  wrecked  and  flat  on  the 
ground.  We  were  met  at  the  door  by  the  secretary.  She  supplied 
us  with  a  good  supper  and  a  place  to  sleep,  and  I  want  to  write 
to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  work  that  she  is  doing  and  also 
the  work  of  her  assistant.  They  seemed  to  take  a  personal  inter- 
est in  the  relatives  who  arrived,  and  are  doing  everything  possible 
for  them.  Since  our  return  we  have  received  a  letter  enclosing 
pictures  of  the  grave  which  they  were  able  to  take  after  the  sun 
came  out,  sometime  after  we  were  there.  As  a  father  of  one  of 
the  boys  in  this  cemetery,  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  such  women 
as  are  now  in  charge  of  this  house  will  have  a  personal  interest  in 
the  graves.  I  believe  that  the  Hostess  House  should  remain  and 
be  enlarged." 

At  Romagne  the  need  was  greatest  because  of  the  distance  and 
the   large   numbers   of   graves.    In   three   other   cemeteries  rest  huts 

66 


were  established:  Bony  (near  St.  Quentin),  Belleau  Woods 
(near  Chateau  Thierry)  and  Fere-en-Tardenois,  for  the  purpose 
of  doing  whatever  was  necessary  to  lighten  the  hard  trip  and 
make  visiting  relatives  a  Httle  more  comfortable.  It  was  planned 
to  continue  the  work  as  long  as  necessary  or  at  special  seasons 
(such  as  summer)  of  greatest  travel. 

The  work  of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France,  which  began 
when  three  secretaries  landed  in  August,  1917,  has  continued 
through  the  war  and  endured  into  peace  days  with  movements 
started,  emergencies  met  and  ramifications  produced  which  have 
as  far  outgrown  the  original  plan  as  an  oak  tree  outgrows  its 
acorn.  Its  unqualified  success  was  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  work. 
To  carry  hospitality,  to  provide  adequate  housing,  to  bring  in  the 
element  of  womanliness  wherever  needed  in  Army  camp  or  muni- 
tion factory,  to  meet  situations  without  preconceived  plans  or 
fast-bound  programs  and  to  be  ready  with  versatile  resourceful- 
ness, to  help  in  emergencies.  These  were  the  principles  of  the 
work.  They  were  found  adequate  for*  many  occasions  and  situa- 
tions. A  returned  welfare  worker  wrote:  "The  sign  of  the  Blue 
Triangle  always  means  hospitality,  rest,  recreation,  assistance." 

Expressions  of  appreciation  came  from  government  officials  and 
men  and  women  of  prominence.  M.  Clemenceau,  through  his 
Chef  du  Cabinet,  conveyed  not  only  his  personal  thanks  but  the 
gratitude  of  the  French  government  for  all  that  the  organization 
was  doing  for  the  young  girls  and  women  of  France.  It  would 
be  impossible,  he  said,  to  express  adequately  the  value  of  the  help 
it  was  bringing  the  government  in  the  solution  of  some  difficult 
problems.  "The  war  is  being  fought  on  French  soil,"  so  ran  the 
message.  "As  the  family  is,  so  is  the  poilu.  You  are  resting  and 
refreshing  and  cheering  him  on  when  you  do  this  to  his  women 
folk.  You  supply  him  with  munition  when  you  maka  the  hard 
work  of  the  women  in  the  usines  a  little  less  of  the  burden  it  must 
be.    We  thank  you  most  sincerely." 

The  poilu  in  a  letter  from  the  front  echoed  this  feeling  of  what 

Jthe  Blue  Triangle  work  meant  to  the  soldiers  in  the  trenches:  **I 
can  fight  with  greater  courage  and  I  am  more  happy  now  that  I 
know  my  women  folk  who  are  working  in  the  munition  factories 
have  such  a  pleasant  place  in  which  to  spend  their  free  time  so 
that  they  need  not  be  on  the  street  subject  to  the  temptations 
which  come  because  of  the  foreign  contract  male  labor  employed 
in  the  factories.  I  want  to  thank  you  and  alKthe  Americans  for 
what  you  are  doing  for  the  poilus  at  the  front."  / 

The  girls  in  the  Foyers  were  unbounded  iV^heir  expressions  of 
appreciation.  Their  wholehearted  response  to  the  work  had  been 
in  itself  an  appreciation,  but  they  were  not  slow  to  put  into  words 
something  of  what  they  felt.  A  speech  of  farewell  made  by  one  of 
the  youngest  girls  of  the  Foyer  at  Roanne  on  the  occasion  of  the 
departure  of  the  American  secretary  gave  occasion  for  expressing 
what  was  in  the  hearts  of  many :  "We  have  passed  these  months 
and  months  in  the  hospitable  atmosphere  of  our  dear  Foyer.     We 

67 


have  tasted  the  pure  joys  of  the  entertainments,  of  the  courses. 
We  have  learned  the  happiness  of  kind  companionship.  It  has 
always  been  gay  and  pleasant  here.  You  have  always  been  send- 
ing new  suggestions  that  would  interest  us.  You  have  been  con- 
stantly our  guides  toward  the  light  and  toward  the  ideal.  How 
shall  we  say  enough  thafiks  for  the  encouragement  that  you  have 
given  in  the  course  of  social  studies?  Guided  there  by  the  spirit 
of  one  selected,  we  have  been  enlightened  in  our  own  spirits.  Our 
eyes  have  been  turned  toward  that  which  is  best  in  us  and  now 
we  shall  try  always  to  be  among  those  who  walk  thoughtful,  con- 
scious of  sublime  hope  and  before  it,  night  and  day,  a  holy  labor 
or  a  holy  love.  If  we  are  sad,  it  is  because  we  are  egotistic.  You 
must  scold  us  but  our  best  wish  for  your  happiness  is  that  you  may 
taste  the  happiness  you  have  given  us." 

Words  of  praise  from  the  American  Army  were  likewise  re- 
ceived. From  General  Pershing  came  the  following  letter,  dated 
April  18,  1919 :  "I  wish  to  express  to  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  my  sincere  appreciation  and  that  of  the  officers 
and  men  of  my  command  for  the  splendid  services  rendered  the 
American  Expeditionary  Forces.  Commencing  in  the  latter  part 
of  1917,  you  steadily  increased  your  facilities  until  you  had  estab- 
lished homes  and  social  centers  for  American  women  attached  to 
the  Army  and  for  the  British  women  serving  with  our  forces  at 
all  important  points  where  they  were  stationed.  Moreover,  you 
instituted  and  developed  to  a  point  of  large  usefulness  your  work 
for  the  benefit  of  the  French  women  employed  in  the  great  muni- 
tion centers.  No  one  who  has  served  with  the  American  forces 
in  Europe  can  doubt  the  efficacy  of  the  work  performed  or  the 
positive  benefit  of  the  influence  exercised  by  the  women  whether 
enrolled  as  members  of  the  Sanitary  Corps,  the  Signal  Corps  or 
the  Auxiliary  Welfare  agencies.  In  ministering  to  the  comfort 
and  well-being  of  these  women,  your  society  has  performed  with 
the  utmost  devotion  a  valuable  and  distinctive  service  which  en- 
titles the  organization  and  its  individual  workers  to  the  gratitude 
not  only  of  the  women  but  of  every  member  of  these  forces  whom 
they  in  turn  have  helped  to  sustain  and  maintain  at  the  pitch  of 
efficiency  and  morale,  which  was  needed  to  bring  the  war  to  a 
successful  conclusion." 

A  secretary  writes:  "The  most  genuine  appreciation  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France,  which  I  have  heard  expressed,  was  the 
impulsive  exclamation  of  a  very  reserved  Chief  Nurse  in  the  midst 
of  a  large  group  of  Chief  Nurses  of  the  A.  E.  F. :  *We  were  in 
need  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  came  when  we  needed  everything.  I 
don't  know  whether  you  call  that  a  religious  work  or  not,  but  to 
me  it  is  religion  itself."' 


68 


Russia 


RUSSIA,  the  land  of  plenty  and  the  land  of  need,  felt  the 
Great  War  crisis  in  so  momentous  a  series  of  shocks,  re- 
versals and  revivals  as  to  make  all  civilization  skeptical 
about  which  direction  she  was  fa.cing.  A  large  body  of  people 
necessarily  move  slowly  or  move  clumsily.  The  fact  of  moving  at 
all  out  of  conditions  long  since  grown  static,  has  to  be  taken  into 
account  in  any  consideration  of  the  great  needs  which  the  war 
changes  produced.  The  changes  that  came  to  certain  groups  in 
Russia  might  be  called  an  emergency  and  demand  emergency 
action.  Such  an  emergency  was  the  new  position  of  women 
created  by  the  Revolution.  A  group  of  thoughtful  representative 
Russian  women  had  known  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  its  many  forms 
of  usefulness,  through  work  already  done  in  Russia  by  the 
World's  Committee  and  its  secretaries,  and  thjrough  Madame 
Orjevsky's  acquaintance  with  it  in  America.  In  America  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  best  equipped  and  freest  for  undertaking  work. 
A  request  was  therefore  sent  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  come 
to  Russia  to  help  in  meeting  the  situation. 

With  due  consideration  of  the  relationships  involved,  the 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  sent  Miss  Elizabeth  Boies  of  the  National 
Board,  with  Miss  Clarissa  Spencer  of  the  World's  Committee  in 
April,  1917.  They  left  New  York  April  20th,  traveled  via  San 
Francisco  and  Japan,  with  one  hour  in  Vladivostok  to  make  the 
weekly  trans-Siberian  Express — an  hour  filled  with  passport  in- 
spection, baggage  examination,  transportation  from  dilatory  dock 
to  steaming  station,  then  sped  on  their  way  across  the  great  ex- 
panse along  the  one  open  route  to  European  Russia.  Thirty-five 
days  completed  the  journey  by  sea  and  land,  and  Petrograd  was 
reached,  a  city  living  under  war  conditions  with  war  coloring 
every  background  and  war  lurking  in  the  immediate  foreground. 
Russia  at  that  time,  just  out  of  the  throes  of  the  First  Revolution, 
was  in  a  statq  of  exaltation.  There  were  no  signs  of  disorder, 
only  of  great  want.  People  stood  in  long  lines  waiting  for  bread, 
butter,  milk  and  sugar  which  could  be  purchased  only  with  cards. 
Some  days  the  restaurants  served  no  bread  at  all.  Soldiers  were 
everywhere,  jamming  the  street  cars  and  making  transportation 
difficult. 

There  was  evidence  of  the  new  liberty  to  hold  meetings  openly 

69 


^^-oo 

rJ-^  ■ 

^ 

^  •^-"^    ^^^ 

^^ 

■Vi 

V 

f 

i7> 

*^^\j'^^ 

\^ 

^ 

-*-*/^ 

L 

^ 

V^<p           ^S' 

\ 

C- 

"^ 

^ 

NoxsoAiav'irii              y^^                          1 

s 

v_ 

^ 

J 

r  £>^ 

\ 

\ 

0 

^ 

( 

vA 

i 
> 

> 

z 

1 

> 

< 

V 

1 

U5 

Y- 

J 

>.*. 
\ 

0 

k^SS 

1 

^--. 

"^ 

V  '^ 

^ 

c 

•-I.  A 

V        ^ 

Vi       > 

:^^v 

«. 

H 

^1 

^% 

I. 

0 

\ 

J 

>, 

,  c 

\ 

/^^^r 

►  « 

/L 

'//, 

'*> 

J 

?0\ 

-•' 

^.. 

''» 

'''     .-t 

r 

1 

5^ 

N 

^f 

^ 

^•"■^JJ*  /tfv/^ijf^J^                                ^ 

0  ) 

\       ^ 

S     § 

^"^^""'^"^                           J 

•^  ( 

^ 

r->          "^ 

J                                         .^--^  rU 

^ 

\ 

r*^ 

A 

O 

f 

\r'< 

^ 

^ 

70 


and  freely.  The  Russian  Evangelical  Christians  were  conducting 
services  for  working  people,  soldiers  and  others.  The  Student 
Movement  was  planning  to  hold  a  conference  in  the  fall.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  on  the  ground  with  a  program  of  work.  Russian 
women,  particularly  the  group  who  had  invited  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
to  Russia,  felt  that  the  new  opportunities  in  the  opening  of  all 
privileges  to  women,  presented  problems  too  large  to  be  grappled 
with  without  the  help  of  other  women  of  experience.  Educated, 
liberal  minded,  they  yet  felt  the  need  for  being  conservative.  Theo- 
retically democratic,  they  still  moved  with  that  distinction  of 
class  which  made  benevolence  a  bending  down  rather  than  a 
reaching  out.  And  the  two  American  secretaries  with  an  experi- 
ence that  knew  no  social^  distinctions  when  it  came  to  the  needs 
of  girls,  brought  unconscfously  the  democratic  spirit  into  all  their 
relationships. 

In  June  the  two  secretaries  made  a  trip  to  Moscow  and  to 
Kiev — the  first  real  journey  in  Russia  and  therefore  vibrant  with 
interest.  Moscow  so  picturesque  and  so  truly  Russian  was  even 
more  likable  than  Petrograd.  Kiev  seemed  very  near  the  front 
with  trenches  prepared  and  barb  wired  in  case  of  a  German  ad- 
vance. Thus  the  summer  of  1917  was  spent  getting  acquainted  with 
the  people  and  the  country  and  studying  Russian.  By  the  end  of 
summer  the  conviction  was  stronger  than  ever  of  the  need  for  Asso- 
ciation work  in  Russia.  The  field  was  unlimited,  woman  having 
greater  influence  in  Russia  than  in  any  other  country,  not  only  pos- 
sessed now  the  ballot  but  held  government  positions  in  the  min- 
istries and  in  municipal  councils.  Therefore,  whatever  was  done 
for  the  women  of  Russia  would  have  vast  influence  upon  all  Rus- 
sian society.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  as  a  large  world  wide  women's  or- 
ff^ization,  occupied  a  unique  position  in  regard  to  the  situation. 
JaI  an  organization  democratic,  many  sided,  holding  out  a  great 
"ideal,  it  was  particularly  adapted  to  a  time  when  Russia  was  seek- 
ing self-realization  in  true  democracy  and  light  in  ideals.  The 
day  of  attainment  might  be  far  distant,  but  if  the  road  was  hard, 
the  need  was  greate?^ 

The  women  of  Russia  had  poise,  charm,  wholesomeness  and  a 
quick  intelligence  which  made  them  eager  to  learn  and  improve, 
and  aflfectionate  and  devoted  to  whatever  they  gave  their  allegi- 
ance. Their  tendencies  led  toward  extreme  individualism  and 
fatalism.  A  Russian  Consul  described  their  needs  as  follows: 
"Our  young  women  have  not  had  their  bodies  developed  or 
trained — many  have  fine,  scientifically  trained  minds  and  then  no 
physical  strength  to  enable  them  to  be  eflfective.  I  like  the  way 
American  girls  think  it  is  a  desirable  thing  to  be  strong  first  and 
then  to  study.  In  Russia  we  often  have  a  big  person — clever, 
intelligent,  but  having  no  will,  no  discipline."  Strength  of  body 
and  strength  of  will  according  to  this  Russian,  seemed  the  two 
characteristics  Russia  might  well  take  from  America. 

Russians  were  agreed  that  the  hope  of  Russia  lay  in  its  women. 
Yet  the  health  conditions  of  women  were  poor.     Many  of  them 

71 


lived  in  small  crowded  quarters  with  no  ventilation.  They  wore 
high  heels.  They  steadily  neglected  cases  of  bad  eyesight.  More- 
over, the  moral  conditions  were  deplorable.  This  state  was  due 
to  the  general  depression.  Chances  for  marriage  were  small.  The 
prospects  for  any  steady  satisfying  life  were  clouded.  There  was 
a  lack  of  hope  in  the  future. 

And  yet  the  future  was  throbbing  with  possibilities  even  in  the 
instability  of  present  day  Russia.  A  paragraph  from  Lenin's 
"The  Great  Beginning,"  quoted  in  Le  Populaire  (Paris)  and  in 
The  Nation  (Feb.  7,  1920),  states  the  situation:  'Tt  is  a  fact  that, 
in  the  course  of  the  past  ten  years  not  a  single  democratic  party 
in  the  world,  not  one  among  the  leaders  of  the  bourgeois  republics, 
has  undertaken  for  the  emancipation  of  women  the  hundredth 
part  of  what  has  been  realized  by  Russia  in  one  year.  All  the 
humiliating  laws  prejudicial  to  the  rights  of  women  have  been 
abolished.  .  .  .  We  are  justly  proud  of  our  progress  in  this  field. 
But  as  soon  as  we  had  destroyed  the  foundation  of  bourgeois  laws 
and  institutions,  we  arrived  at  a  clear  conception  of  the  prepara- 
tory nature  of  our  work,  destined  solely  to  prepare  the  ground  for 
the  edifice  which  was  to  be  built.  We  have  not  yet  come  to  the 
construction  of  the  building."  Whatever  the  future  held  for  Rus- 
sia, Russian  women  must  take  their  share  in  its  burdens  and  in 
its  triumphs. 

Russian  women  reaching  out  to  America  for  help  in  unexpected 
ways  found  a  response  and  a  welcome.  A  remarkable  example  of 
enterprise  is  seen  in  a  young  Russian  girl  who  in  1917,  finding  the 
University  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  closed  on  account  of  the  war, 
had  come  to  America  to  spend  five  years  studying  engineering. 
For  what  America  had  already  done  in  ^Russia,  Russian  women 
we're  eager  to  express  their  gratefulness,  \jnie.  following  telegram* 
was  sent  by  Catherine  Breshkovsky,  Chairman,  Russian  Commit- 
tee on  Civic  Education,  to  President  Wilson :  **We  Russian  citi- 
zens have  been  receiving  from  the  American  people  so  many 
tokens  of  friendship  and  expressions  of  good  will  to  help  Russia 
in  her  hour  of  difficulties  that  we  feel  an  imperious  desire  on  our 
part  to  say  to  the  great  democracy  of  the  United  States  how  near 
to  our  hearts  is  the  union  with  that  democratic  people  and  how 
fervently  we  wish  to  preserve  that  union  and  friendship  so  long 

as  our  nations  iast.^'\ 

\. 

It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  two  secretaries  reached 
the  conclusion  that  the  Association  could  be  of  use  to  Russian 
women  in  present  day,  changing,  challenging  Russia.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1917,  they  cabled  for  seven  secretaries.  Four  arrived  that 
fall:  Miss  Marcia  Dunham,  Mis^Clara  Taylor,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Dickerson,  Miss  Helen  Ogden.  "Meanwhile  the  two  already  on 
the  ground  worked  steadily  ahead,  inconspicuously  fitting  into 
their  surroundings,  studying  situations,  winning  friends  for  the 
Association  one  by  one  as  they  gained  the  confidence  of  the  girls 
in  industry  and  the  women  in  positions  of  leadership.  ;  In  Septem- 
ber a  few  girls  were  finding  their  way  to  the~seijretaries*  rooms 

72 


at  the  Hotel  d'Angleterre.  The  beginnings  of  an  Association 
were  being  made.  This  group  of  fifteen  to  twenty  girls  had 
learned  enough  of  the  Association  to  desire  to  see  it  fully  organ- 
ized in  their  midst.  They,  therefore,  came  together  every  Wed- 
nesday evening  to  join  in  the  games  and  songs  that  created  Asso- 
ciation spirit  and  thus  to  tide  over  the  discouraging  time  of  wait- 
ing till  the  organization  could  be  effected. 

There  were  many  difficulties.  The  food  situation  emphasized 
the  need  of  a  restaurant  on  a  large  scale  for  feeding  girls  who 
would  have  come  in  literal  thousands  to  find  relief  from  chronic 
under-nourishment.  But  so  large  an  undertaking  would  involve 
having  a  cafeteria  expert  from  America,  the  cooperation  of  the 
Red  Cross  and  of  Russian  government  officials  who  at  this  time 
of  uncertainty  were  not  in  a  mood  to  count  upon  the  future  in  any 
large  scale  plan. 

The  next  possibility  was  to  carry  on  other  parts  of  the  Associ- 
ation program  as  circumstances  permitted.  For  this  the  Wed- 
nesday night  group  formed  a  nucleus.  Classes  were  started  and 
the  number  enrolled  rapidly  grew  to  150.  The  greatest  demand 
was  for  French.  Two  advanced  and  two  beginners'  classes  quick- 
ly filled  up.  Next  came  English  with  two  advanced  and  four  be- 
ginners. There  was  a  small  demand  for  Russian.  Other  courses 
were  bookkeeping,  commercial  arithmetic,  stenography  and 
choral   singing. 

Gymnasium  work  had  been  discouraged  by  Russian  women 
who  predicted  failure  because  in  Russia  girls  considered  it  below 
their  dignity  to  play  games,  or  do  gymnasium  exercises.  But 
when  the  work  was  actually  organized  these  obstacles  proved  no 
hindrance  to  its  great  success.  Social  distinctions  were  abol- 
ished. University  girls,  store  girls  and  waitresses  all  joined 
classes  together. 

Such  a  program  of  work  demanded  a  location  in  a  central  sec- 
tion of  Petrograd.  After  weeks  of  search  a  building  was  finally 
secured,  modern,  well  equipped,  clean,  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  School.  Two  large  rooms  furnished  with  the  per- 
sonal care  of  the  secretaries,  took  on  readily  an  Association  at- 
mosphere. Another  two  rooms  became  class  rooms.  A  large 
salon  was  used  for  gymnasium  and  evening  gatherings. 

The  formal  opening  of  the  first  city  Association  in  Russia  took 
place  in  October,  1917,  with  three  hundred  guests,  including  the 
American  Ambassador,  two  Associate  ministers,  a  number  of 
government  officials  and  other  prominent  Russians  who  had  be- 
come interested,  and  a  great  many  girls.  Two  Russian  priests 
connected  with  the  School  for  Deaf  and  Dumb  children  officiated 
in  all  the  appropriate  rites  and  ceremonies.  The  chanting  and 
singing  were  by  a  group  of  orphans.  Miss  Spencer  began  the 
exercises  by  thanking  the  officials  who  had  made  possible  such  an 
auspicious  opening.  Madame  Polotsova  impressed  everybody 
with  an  address  on  what  Russian  women  could  do  for  their  coun- 

73 


try.  Then  the  officials  insisted  upon  expressing  their  thanks  that 
the  Y.  W.  C^  A.  had  come.  The  refreshments  served  were  tea 
with  sugar,  and  biscuits,  both  articles  having  been  saved  all  sum- 
mer in  anticipation  of  an  opening  event.  This  was  followed  by 
some  lovely  music  with  cello  and  piano — a  great  delight  to  the 
girls.  Many  questions  were  asked  regarding  the  work  and  the 
plans  but  the  chief  one  seemed  to  be:  "Where  did  you  get  all 
these  girls?"  The  fact  that  two  Americans  speaking  poor  Rus- 
sian could  manage  to  see  and  know  and  interest  so  many  girls 
was  to  the  Russians  marvelous,  but  to  the  two  Americans  them- 
selves the  most  understandable  thing  in  the  world. 

The  success  of  the  event  was  evidenced  by  the  eagerness  with 
which  the  committee  ladies  who  had  been  uncertain  before,  now 
precipitated  their  ofifers  to  help.  Madame  Orjevsky,  the  one 
woman  in  Russia  who  had  known  the  Association  in  America,  had 
been  of  great  assistance  in  preparing  for  the  occasion  and  was 
gratified  by  the  results.  The  movement  from  the  beginning  had 
been  helped  and  encouraged  by  Countess  Panin  whose  official  ad- 
vice had  been  sought. 

The  girls  themselves  proved  their  interest  by  their  presence 
not  only  on  the  great  occasion  of  the  opening,  but  at  the  regular 
class  meetings.  And  this  meant  loyalty  through  times  of  revolu- 
tion and  bloodshed.  First  had  come  to  Korniloff  rebellion  par- 
alysing everything  for  a  week  or  two.  But  the  girls  still  came. 
Three  weeks  after  the  official  opening.  Civil  War  precipitated  its 
week  of  rioting  and  terrorization.  Still  came  the  faithful  few  through 
it  all.  In  the  next  lull  a  second  opening  and  registration  for  new 
classes  found  225  girls  ready  to  listen  to  an  evening's  address  by 
Madame  Orjevsky  and  to  respond  eagerly  to  moving  pictures  of 
tent  life  at  a  Lake  Geneva  summer  conference.  Classes  boomed  in 
spite  of  revolution.  In  the  midst  of  very  irregular  conditions  a 
regular  Association  had  come  into  being  because  girls  had  found 
there  something  different  from  :  anything  they  had  known  before, 
and  something  they  very  much  wanted. 

/T  like  the  American  way,"  said  one  girl.  "There  is  so  much 
fun  and  'lightness.' "  That  is  just  a  new  term  for  expressing 
Association  enthusiasrq. 

The  next  step  w^s  to  plan  to  open  in  Moscow.  After  having 
won  their  way  alone  in  Petrograd,  it  was  an  interesting  experience 
to  the  two  American  secretaries  to  have  Madame  Orjevsky  go 
along  to  blaze  a  trail  before  them  with  her  smooth  Russian,  her 
wide  acquaintance  and  her  absolute  conviction  that  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  was  the  thing  Russian  women  needed  and  wanted.  She 
described  glowingly  the  opening  in  Petrograd,  the  eager  coming 
of  the  girls,  the  home-like  restful  atmosphere  of  the  place.  Of 
the  religious  purpose  of  the  Association  she  spoke  with  no  hesi- 
tation. She  even  referred  to  the  bravery  of  the  two  American 
secretaries  in  being  in  Russia  at  such  a  time  and  the  consequent 
duty  of  all  patriotic  earnest  Russians  to  forward  their  work.  She 
made  her  greatest  impression  by  her  story  of  the  little  girl  who 

74 


said  that  when  she  was  in  the  Association  she  had  such  a  good 
time  that  she  forgot  all  about  being  in  war-tried  Petrograd  till 
she  went  outdoors  again.  That  the  Association  could  likewise 
succeed  in  Moscow  she  had  not  the  slightest  doubt. 

A  spacious  hall  and  two  small  rooms,  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Religious  Theosophical  Society,  was  secured  from  Madame 
MorozofT,  president  of  the  Society.  In  'December,  1917,  the  first 
meeting  was  held.  Among  those  who  came  were  the  wife  of  the 
American  Consul,  the  woman  who  owned  the  building  and  also 
several  factories,  and  a  number  of  women  from  cross  sections 
of  Russian  society  who  had  never  heard  of  each  other.  Madame 
Orjevsky  (presided,  but  the  meeting  consisted  mostly  of  informal 
chatting  which  seemed  to  create  the  atmosphere  desired.  After 
all,  the  great  fact  was  that  the  Association  was  open  and  girls 
were  coming.  With  a  committee  of  representative  Russian 
women  to  advise  or  to  throw  themselves  into  work  by  teach- 
ing, by  giving  an  afternoon  a  week  or  by  organizing  excursions 
to  the  art  galleries,  the  secretaries  enthusiastically  made  up  the 
Association  program. 

The  largest  class  was  for  Russian  language  study,  taught  by 
Madame  Shidlovsky,  a  committee  member,  who  delighted  in  her 
big  group  of  girls  as  in  her  own  family.  It  was  a  pleasant  sur- 
prise to  the  American  secretaries  that  little  cash  and  messenger 
girls  would  study  the  things  they  needed,  such  as  Russian  and 
arithmetic,  instead  of  choosing  the  froth  as  most  young  Ameri- 
cans of  their  type  would  do.  Just  as  in  Petrograd,  the  gymnasium 
classes  were  very  popular.  They  did  more  than  anything  else  to 
abolish  distinctions.  In  drinking  tea  one  naturally  seeks  one's 
intimates,  but  in  playing  an  exciting  game  one  forgets  whether 
she  is  side  by  side  with  shop  girls  or  university  girls  in  the  ex- 
hilaration of  working  for  the  team.  Besides  a  waitress  may  plaj- 
just  as  good  a  game  as  a  student. 

The  Association  in  Moscow  and  in  Petrograd  differed 
in  type  as  the  two  cities  differed.  In  Petrograd,  the 
city  of  international  affairs,  many  dependable  members 
were  girls  from  the  Baltic  provinces:  Letts,  Courland- 
ers,  Esthonians,  with  a  mixture  of  Poles  and  Armenians.  They 
came  from  the  government  offices  and  the  banks  and  had  educa- 
tion commensurate  with  the  responsibilities  of  such  positions.  In 
Moscow,  the  commercial  center,  the  girls  were  mostly  pure  Rus- 
sian and  largely  from  the  two  biggest  department  stores,  the  ma- 
jority, so  young,  in  short  skirts  and  braids,^  that  the  committee 
women  found  it  difficult  to  believe  they  were  working.  The  fact 
that  they  lived  in  the  poorer  parts  of  the  city  and  at  some  distance 
from  the  Association  influenced  the  food  committee  to  allow  the 
Association  a  fourth  of  a  quarter  pound  of  bread  per  person  per 
day  which  was  served  with  tea  by  way  of  a  small  collation  before 
the  evening  classes,  since  the  girls  came  directly  from  work,  and 
after  the  meeting  usually  walked  home  on  account  of  the  crowded 
condition  of  the  irregularly  run  street  cars. 

75 


The  Moscow  Association  too  suffered  some  interruptions  in  its 
schedule.  There  were  the  Christmas  and  New  Year's  holidays  of 
three  days  each  and  then  the  big  holiday  foi^  blessing  the  waters 
of  the  Moscow  river.  This  was  followed  by  a  week  of  shooting. 
But  when  the  shutters  came  off  the  shop  windows  again  and  the 
people  began  to  go  about  freely,  the  girls  came  back  so  glad  to 
see  the  Association  again  that  it  made  even  such  interruptions 
seem  worth  while  as  a  demonstration  of  their  loyalty  and  in- 
terest. 

Outbreaks  of  shooting  came  to  be  such  every  day  affairs  in 
January,  1918,  that  they  were  hardly  interruptions.  One  day 
when  the  American  secretaries  in  Moscow  were  visiting  the  big 
Sucharof  Market  jammed  with  people  peacefully  bickering  over 
fish,  sauerkraut  and  strips  of  cloth,  the  shots  began  to  come.  An 
open  stall,  the  first  haven  of  refuge,  presented  possibilities  of 
escape  in  a  big  empty  barrel.  But  the  old  peasant  shopkeeper 
deciding  it  was  too  hot  for  her  began  closing  up.  There  was 
nothing  left  but  to  run  for  it.  Out  into  the  boulevard,  bent  half 
double,  the  Americans  tore  along,  stumbling  over  sleds  and 
bumping  into  people,  tumbling  into  a  large  puddle  of  water,  then 
up  and  at  it  again,  with  the  bullets  whizzing  from  all  sides  at 
once.  Several  blocks  away  they  found  a  cab  to  take  them  home. 
Everything  had  stopped  running  except  the  ambulances  and 
motor  cars  of  the  red  guards.  But  the  other  side  of  the  city 
where  they  lived  was  not  disturbing  itself. 

In  February,  1918,  along  with  a  celebration  of  Washington's 
Birthday,  came  the  rumor  that  Smolensk  was  taken  by  the  Ger- 
mans and  her  thousand  troops  sent  on  toward  Moscow.  Immedi- 
ately plans  were  put  into  operation  by  the  American  Consul  for 
getting  all  the  Americans  to  Samara,  a  place  of  greater  safety. 
Miss  Dunham  and  Miss  Dickerson,  in  charge  of  the  Petrograd 
Association,  were  out  of  communication.  There  was  nothing  to 
do  but  act  as  isolated  units  and  obey  orders.  When  it  came  to 
the  point  of  leaving  Moscow  and  the  work  for  Russian  girls, 
Miss  Boies  felt  she  could  not  go.  Perhaps  one  person  could  stay. 
Since  it  was  necessary  to  reduce  the  staff  to  no  more  than  one 
person,  Miss  Taylor  and  Miss  Ogden  went  with  the  other  Ameri- 
cans to  Samara. 

The  Russian  girls  in  Moscow  grieved  at  the  thought  of  bidding 
goodby  to  their  Association  and  all  their  American  friends.  It 
was,  therefore,  a  piece  of  good  fortune  for  them  that  Miss  Boies 
stayed  on  to  hold  them  together  and  give  them  some  pleasant  and 
profitable  hours  with  play  and  classes  at  the  close  of  the  very 
trying  days  through  which  they  must  go.  The  food  shortage  and 
the  loneliness  were  the  worst  features.  ■  Most  of  the  supplies  had 
been  sent  to  Samara  in  expectation  of  the  Germans  shortly  taking 
Moscow.  But  food  shortage  was  not  an  unusual  experience  to 
those  who  had  lived  through  the  winter  in  Russia.  To  be  always 
a  little  undernourished,  always  cold  with  a  maximum  heat  of 
only  45  degrees  Fahrenheit  allowed  by  law,  had  become  the  nor- 

1^ 


mal  thing.  But  to  be  alone  with  momentous  questions  of  policy, 
of  cooperation  or  of  personal  safety,  was  to  know  the  miseries  of 
discouragement. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  surroundings  to  add  a  drop  of  cheer. 
The  girls  who  came  to  the  Association  day  by  day  were  gradually 
running  down  physically.  The  committee  women  were  percepti- 
bly growing  older  and  thinner.  Evidences  of  mental  suffering 
were  on  every  hand — young  boys  and  girls  committing  suicide  or 
going  crazy — until  a  sort  of  apathy  settled  down  over  the  people 
as  if  nothing  mattered,  not  even  peace.  And  yet  to  the  secretary 
there  was  the  one  consoling  fact  of  being  there  as  friend  to  help, 
if  only  by  the  giving  out  of  such  bits  of  bread  as  were  procurable 
to  the  girls  who  came  in  for  their  hour  of  recreation,  to  try  to  for- 
get. Some  of  the  classes  were  able  to  continue  and  some  new 
ones  were  added  in  millinery  and  sewing.  During  Lent  two 
classes  in  Bible  Study,  one  of  them  in  English,  taught  by  Miss 
Boies,  the  other  m  Russian  by  a  Russian  woman,  helped  to  ob- 
serve the  season,(^d  a  friendly  Russian  priest  gave  several  re-  .  ^^ 
ligious  addresses,  which  meant  much  to  the  gij5^\jty\Nl    kj\j     1't-iiA\    \j\jp^ 

The  political  situation  changed  from  day  to  day  and  no  news 
was  dependable.  The  Germans  could  take  Moscow  in  one  drive 
if  they  cared  tq  do  it.  Foreigners  were  getting  out  as  fast  as 
they  could  on  any  kind  of  trains.  But  travel  conditions  were  in- 
variably bad.  Then  came  the  signing  of  a  peace  with  people 
scarcely  aware  of  a  change.  Whether  it  was  the  red  flag  of  Bol- 
shevism or  the  black  flag  of  Anarchy  seemed  to  make  little  dif- 
ference to  an  apathetic  people  who  needed  bread. 

In  the  meantime  word  had  been  received  that  the  secretaries  in 
Petrograd  had  been  taken  to  Vladivostok  on  the  official  evacua- 
tion train.  For  several  months  there  had  been  two  secretaries  in 
Vladivostok,  Miss  Katherine  Childs  and  Miss  Muriel  Heap,  wait- 
ing for  an  opportunity  to  get  across  Siberia  into  Russia.  The 
four  of  them  together  continued  their  study  of  the  Russian  lan- 
guage and  looked  into  conditions  at  Vladivostok  which  showed 
many  needs  for  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  in  Siberia. 

The  two  who  had  gone  to  Samara  were  likewise  studying  the 
language  and  looking  about.  Samara  offered  greater  relief. 
Many  refugees  from  Northern  Russia  and  from  Poland  had  left 
Petrograd  and  Moscow  for  this  less  crowded  city;  the  center  of 
a  fertile  area,  watered  by  the  Volga,  from  which  came  large  sup- 
plies of  grain.  Samara  had  a  troop  of  500  Girl  Scouts  without  a 
leader,  which  called  for  just  the  things  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary 
could  do.  The  Scouts  themselves  were  eager  to  have  the  Ameri- 
cans take  hold. 

In  April,  1918,  Miss  Boies  made  a  trip  from  Moscow  to  Petro- 
grad, which  for  a  history  of  transportation  in  1918  and  of  endur- 
ance tests  in  the  face  of  great  discouragements  should  be  recorded. 
"Goodby.  We'll  see  you  after  the  war,"  was  the  farewell  of  the 
people  in  Moscow  as  she  started  on  her  cheerless  journey.  A 
third  class  car  with  narrow  benches  filled  with  soldiers  all  smok- 


77 


HMMuH 


ing  and  eating,  only  one  other  woman  in  the  car,  one  soldier  who 
sang  from  two  in  the  morning  till  seven,  driving  away  even  what 
sleep  might  come  in  a  bolt  upright  position.  Such  were  the  con- 
ditions of  the  journey.  Was  it  worth  while  for  the  sake  of  spend- 
ing a  week  in  Petrograd?  "It  was  one  of  the  most  worth  while 
weeks  I  have  spent  in  Russia,"  wrote  Miss  Boies.  The  rumors  she 
had  heard  in  Moscow  that  the  Petrograd  Association,  left  without 
an  American  secretary,  was  in  danger  of  a  slump,  made  any  dis- 
comforts worth  enduring  for  the  sake  of  seeing  the  real  situation 
of  the  girls  in  Petrograd  who  had  learned  to  look  to  the  Associa- 
tion for  help  in  a  crisis. 

Miss  Boies  thus  described  her  week :  ^'Petrograd  was  a  surprise 
to  us — instead  of  a  sad  abandoned  city,  everything  was  gay;  peo- 
ple were  walking  or  riding,  very  well  dressed,  no  strain,  a  city 
without  a  care  or  a  fear  apparently.  There  were  no  soldiers  on 
the  street  and  officers  everywhere  in  their  best  coats,  gold  braid 
such  as  I  had  never  seen  before.  But  underneath  there  was  much 
suffering  in  spite  of  the  gay  streets.  There  was  literally  no  food 
to  be  bought  in  the  stores  or  at  the  hotels.  We  stayed  at  the 
Hotel  d'Europe — no  bread,  only  cofifee  with  a  few  grains  of  sugar 
in  the  morning,  and  at  noon  or  night  a  soup  and  a  meat,  no  pota- 
toes, no  vegetables  of  any  kind  and  not  even  dried  fruits.  If  we 
had  not  brought  along  an  ample  food  basket  for  the  journey  we 
would  have  starved.  Of  course  people  can  still  buy  limited  sup- 
plies at  the  cooperatives  and  the  city  stores,  but  there  has  been 
no  sugar  given  out  by  card  even  for  a  month,  and  that  is  the 
nearest  experience  of  starvation  that  I  ever  want  to  see.  I  was 
surprised- in  our  committee  members — they  have  changed  so,  aged 
and  grown  thinner  even  in  the  three  months  that  I  have  been 
away  from  Petrograd.    It  makes  one  feel  very  sad. 

"They  were  so  glad  to  see  me  it  was  most  touching.  They  in- 
sisted on  my  coming  to  their  house  to  tea  or  dinner.  Of  course 
I  did  not  want  to  eat  of  their  slender  stores  and  they  were  too 
dear  for  anything.  It  happened  that  they  were  in  sort  of  a  crisis 
so  my  coming  was  very  opportune.  The  school  that  had  evacu- 
ated was  moving  back  to  Petrograd  that  week  and  they  had  or- 
dered us  out.  Why  they  are  moving  deaf  and  dumb  children  into 
a  starving  city  no  one  knows,  but  Moscow  is  being  completely 
requisitioned  by  the  Bolsheviks,  so  they  must  leave  there.  We 
made  a  strong  plea  to  the  house  committee,  and  they  decided  to 
send  out  all  the  other  organizations  and  let  us  remain. 

"Not  the  least  encouraging  part  was  the  fine  work  that  our  two 
little  Russian  secretaries,  Nina  Stephanovna  and  Antonina.^Mihae- 
lovna,  are  doing.    They  have  really  caught  the  Association  spirit. A 

fX)ur  committee  women  are  getting  new  ideals,  and  our  irislst- 
ance  on  the  democracy  of  the  Association  ®n  the  sharing  of  re- 
sponsibility with  the  girls  is  something  new.  One  of  the  commit- 
tee members  in  Petrograd  said  to  me:  "We  must  keep  the  American 
spirit.     We  have  missed  that  since   Miss   Dunham   went  away; 

78 


that  is  the  thing  that  is  most  important.**     What  she  really jpeant 
was  our  attitude  of  equality  and  comradeship  with  the  girls.V 

On  her  return  to  Moscow,  Miss  Boies  had  word  that  the  four 
secretaries  in  Vladivostok  were  coming  to  Russia,  Miss  Dunham 
and  Miss  'Dickerson  to  resume  their  work,  Miss  Childs  and  Miss 
Heap  to  begin  theirs.  The  next  step  was  to  confer  on  the  whole 
subject — of  how  best  to  conserve  what  was  already  begun,  how  to 
concentrate  forces,  and  how  to  plan  for  new  work.  It  was  con- 
sidered wise  to  hold  Petrograd  and  Moscow,  where  the  Association 
already  had  a  start,  to  open  in  Samara  with  the  Girl  Scout  troop, 
and  to  cooperate  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  at  their  invitation,  in  some 
summer  work  along  the  Volga  River;  also  planning  ahead  for 
student  work  in  connection  with  the  World's  Student  Christian 
Federation. 

Of  the  work  already  established  the  most  important  seemed  to 
be  that  in  Moscow.  Not  only  was  Moscow  in  normal  times  more 
thoroughly  Russian  than  Petrograd,  but  it  had  now  become  the 
seat  of  the  Government.  As  a  center  for  Association  work  it  was 
of  strategic  importance.  Famous  for  having  more  churches  than 
any  other  city  in  the  world,  its  religious  prestige  was  unquestioned. 
It  was  also  the  first  city  in  Russia  industrially.  Realizing  the 
significance  of  this  fact  in  the  Association  program.  Miss  Taylor 
spent  June  and  July  of  1918  making  an  industrial  survey  of  the 
city.  With  a  permission  which  gave  her  entree  into  every  factory 
in  Moscow,  she  toiled  through  the  hottest  days  of  summer,  visiting 
225  factories.  These  giant  buildings  fringed  the  city,  forming  the 
circumference  of  the  circle  which  surrounds  the  Kremlin  as  the 
center.  The  factories  are  of  many  trades,  in  which  textiles  stand 
at  the  head  of  the  list  in  numerical  importance.  Next  came  the 
factories  making  candy,  rubber,  cigarettes,  shoes,  buttons,  the  tea- 
packing  industries,  the  army  equipment  places,  and  the  sewing 
trades,  with  their  ramifications  and  abuses  such  as  sweating. 

The  number  of  women  employed  was  below  the  normal  of  pre- 
war years,  due  partly  to  shortage  of  raw  materials  and  fuel.  De- 
mobilization of  soldiers  added  to  the  unemployment  problem ;  but 
in  socialistic  Russia,  where  principle  demanded  that  all  engage  in 
productive  work,  the  labor  leaders  frowned  upon  the  displacement 
of  women  workers  by  soldiers  whose  places  they  had  taken  during 
the  war. 

The  right  to  organize  openly  and  to  think,  talk  and  act  collec- 
tively and  freely,  without  fear  of  arrest,  had  wrought  fundamental 
changes.  Labor  unions  organized  by  trades,  with  compulsory  mem- 
bership, had  much  power  in  regulating  conditions  of  work  and 
policies  of  workers.  The  fact  that  women  did  not  live  up  to  the 
privileges  accorded  them  in  the  unions,  but  left  most  of  the  man- 
agement to  the  men,  was  due  to  the  greater  educational  advantages 
which  gave  the  men  a  wider  interest  and  ability.  The  Bolsheviks 
were  recognizing,  however,  the  fact  that  greater  strength  and 
efficiency  were  to  be  gained  through  industrial  rather  than  trade 
organization,  and  by  including  both  men  and  women  in  its  com- 

79 


pulsory  membership.     Under  the  Soviet  government  all  industries 
would  be  completely  controlled  and  reorganized. 

The  housing  of  v^orkers  wsls  for  the  most  part  by  the  barrack 
system,  due  to  the  necessity  of  providing  living  quarters  for  the 
peasants  brought  from  villages,  where  they  were  dependent  on 
landlords.  Many  of  the  conditions  of  crowding  and  lack  of  sani- 
tation were  due  to  the  ignorance  of  the  people  of  any  laws  of  health, 
rather  than  to  negligence  of  the  management,  who  provided  in 
many  cases  good  buildings,  with  laundry  and  bathing  facilities. 
However,  there  were  instances  of  bad  housing  and  neglect.  Medi- 
cal and  dental  care  for  employees  was  required  of  employers  by 
Russian  law.  The  working  conditions  in  some  of  the  factories 
were  poor,  due  to  bad  sanitation. 

The  factory  girl  was  a  type  distinctly  Russian,  differing  in  ap- 
pearance, temperament  and  ambition  from  the  wiry,  alert  American 
girl  in  industry.  One  difference  was  in  education,  the  American 
girl  plainly  showing  evidence  of  greater  advantages  and  Wider  in- 
terests. But  the  fundamental  difference  was  in  origin.  The  Rus- 
sian girl,  of  peasant  stock  and  country  upbringing,  presented  an 
appearance  of  stolid  strength  and  backward  conservatism.  Her 
interests,  emerging  from  a  background  of  hard  work  in  small  com- 
munity circles,  whether  in  village  or  in  factory,  primarily  per- 
tained to  the  physical  necessities  of  her  being.  The  great  event 
in  her  life  would  be  marriage.  Coming  out  of  a  life  of  hard  work, 
she  would  go,  back  into  a  life  of  harder  work.  And  yet  the  natural 
instincts  of  girlhood — the  desire  for  beauty  and  personal  charm, 
the  seeking  of  joy,  and  the  unconscious  shy  longing  for  self-expres- 
sion— ran  not  much  below  the  surface  of  the  most  stolid  appearing 
of  these  Russian  factory  girls.  From  their  normal  country  life  they 
were  never  entirely  cut  off,  for  in  the  slack  seasons,  which  were 
the  times  of  harvest,  they  would  go  back  to  help  with  the  crops. 
After  the  long  Russian  winter,  the  effulgence  of  summer  served 
to  emphasize  in  the  minds  of  the  American  secretaries  the  vital 
importance  of  the  peasant  to  Russia.  Not  only  the  fact  that  peas- 
ants were  now  coming  to  take  a  large  place  in  organized  industry 
but  also  the  historical  significance  of  a  group  numerically  tremen- 
dous, for  centuries  attached  to  the  land,  pointed  to  the  strategic 
importance  of  any  kind  of  country  work.  When  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
therefore,  was  invited  to  cooperate  in  a  scheme  for  country  work 
in  a  boat  trip  along  the  Volga  River  in  the  summer  of  1918,  the 
offer  furnished  too  large  an  opportunity  to  be  refused.  The  long- 
ing to  get  as  close  as  possible  to  the  Russian  peasant  had  here 
its  chance  of  fulfillment. 

Any  effort  to  reach  the  peasants  of  Russia  must  take  the  rivers 
into  the  itinerary.  Great  arteries  carrying  the  life  of  commerce, 
of  production,  in  many  cases  of  all  outside  communication,  they 
nourish  the  heart  of  Russia.  And  Russia's  rivers  are  many.  The 
Volga,  one  of  the  proudest  of  them,  its  wide  waters,  filled  with 
floating  barges,  separating  vast  stretches  of  low  lands  shading  off 
into  deserts,  on  one  side,  from  a  succession  of  rich  farms  and  vill- 

$0 


8i 


age  on  the  other  bank,  was  to  be  the  route  of  the  expedition.  Its 
purpose  was  to  help  the  country  people  at  the  very  points  at  which 
they  most  needed  help  by  taking  them  new  ideas  along  practical 
lines  on  subjects  of  particular  interest  to  them  and  by  demonstrat- 
ing how  these  ideas  could  be  carried  out.  Although  the  whole 
scheme  was  to  be  directed  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  cooperation  of 
the  government,  of  the  Red  Cross  and  of  a  staff  of  Russians  made 
it  possible.  Of  the  women's  work  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  given  full 
charge.  It  was  a  help  to  have  them  also  run  the  commissary  de- 
partment of  the  boat. 

The  steam  boat  furnished  by  the  government  was  equipped  with 
an  exhibit  covering  many  aspects  of  agriculture,  such  as  bee  keep- 
ing, poultry  raising,  dairying,  and  the  use  of  farm  machinery,  and 
demonstrating  the  right  and  wrong  way  of  caring  for  babies,  some 
proper  methods  of  domestic  science,  including  cooking  and  house- 
keeping, particularly  the  large  uses  of  the  foods  at  hand,  such  as 
vegetables  which  were  entirely  neglected  by  the  peasants,  substi- 
tutes for  sugar  of  which  there  was  none,  and  the  making  of  potato 
flour. 

Starting  from  Nizhni-Novgorod  in  June,  1918,  the  boat  made  its 
way  down  the  Volga  as  far  as  Simbirsk,  stopping  for  one  or  two 
days  at  about  eighty  towns  and  villages.  At  each  stopping  place 
the  coming  of  the  boat  had  been  advertised  beforehand  and  a  crowd 
was  already  assembled  on  the  dock  by  the  time  the  boat  was  ready 
to  tie  up.  In  the  case  of  early  morning  arrivals  when  one  wanted 
to  sleep,  this  was  rather  inconvenient,  for  four  A.  M.  made  no  dif- 
ference to  the  noisy  throngs  in  waiting.  The  morning  was  occu- 
pied with  seeing  the  village  authorities,  the  priest  of  the  local 
church,  and  the  people  affiliated  with  agricultural  societies,  and 
in  visiting  the  schools  to  arrange  with  the  teachers  to  havd  the 
children  come  down  to  the  boat  in  the  afternoon.  The  afternoon 
was  given  up  to  showing  them  the  exhibits.  First  came  the  school 
children  and  their  teachers  all  eager  to  have  a  look  at  the  wonders 
the  boat  held.  Nothing  escaped  them,  although  to  the  children 
some  of  the  mysteries  of  hygiene  might  remain  forever  inexplicable. 
To  the  teachers  the  coming  of  the  boat  was  providential — new  in- 
spiration, new  ideas,  a  relief  from  monotony,  a  real  help  in  the 
process  of  teaching.  After  the  rest  of  the  exhibit  had  been  seen 
and  explained  came  the  wonder  of  wonders  down  in  the  hold,  for 
some  of  the  children  had  never  seen  moving  pictures.  They  had 
heard  tales,  however,  of  strange  people  who  sometimes  stole  little 
children,  and  some  of  them  were  afraid  to  go  down  inside  the 
boat.  Once  down,  they  could  hardly  be  induced  to  come  out  again, 
so  great  were  the  fascinations  of  the  picture  people  who  moved  and 
acted.  The  children  were  then  taken  up  into  the  village  in  order 
to  keep  the  evening  on  board  free  for  the  grown  people.  To  hold 
the  children  there  required  the  services  of  one  person  who  could 
play  games  with  them.  Scared  at  first  as  they  had  been  at  the 
boat,  they  ended  by  accompanying  this  strange  new  friend  back  to 
the  boat  when  the  evening  was  over  and  holding  her  hand  tightly 
all  the  way. 

82 


In  the  meantime,  the  exhibit  was  being  shown  to  the  peasants 
and  the  village  people.  They  came  early,  spent  the  evening  and 
were  loath  to  leave  at  midnight.  Amazement,  wonder  and  curios- 
ity held  them.  The  exhibit  had  been  planned  with  a  special  view 
to  interesting  the  men  in  newer  agricultural  methods  and  the 
women  in  domestic  science  and  child  welfare.  But  often  the  men 
seemed  to  take  more  interest  in  the  child  exhibit  than  the  women, 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  men  had  more  education  and,  therefore, 
more  appreciation.  Or  sometimes  the  younger  women  were  off 
working  in  the  fields,  which  left  only  the  older  women  free  to  come. 
It  was  not  unusual  to  hear  two  or  three  old  women  in  low  tones 
speculating  about  the  possible  reasons  that  could  have  brought  the 
exhibition.  The  theories  varied  from  robbery  to  enemy  propa- 
ganda, and  the  talk  usually  ended  in  sending  a  delegation  to  see 
what  it  was  all  about.  As  the  admission  was  only  thirty  kopecks 
the  robbery  theory  was  soon  abandoned.  As  for  the  propaganda 
it  seemed  friendly  enough.  It  was  certainly  useful  to  learn  how  to 
make  flour  from  potatoes.  Thus  the  majority  of  the  visitors  gained 
several  practical  ideas  and  by  the  time  the  boat  departed,  there  was 
always  left  a  group  of  from  ten  to  thirty  who  had  grasped  the 
deeper  meaning  of  it.  For  after  all,  better  farming,  better  com- 
munity life,  better  babies  and  better  schools  were  matters  of  vital 
import  in  every  community. 

The  group  who  cared  the  most  about  the  message  brought  by  the^ 
boat  were  the  school  teachers.     Into  them  it  put  new  life.     Not^ 
infrequently  they  would  follow  the  boat  down  the  river  two  or/ 
three  miles  to  the  next  landing  in  order  to  hear  again  the  explany 
ations  and  see  again  the  pictures  and  thus  to  understand  a  littlei^ 
more.    The  teachers  were  the  key  to  the  country  situation  wherever 
any  welfare  work  was  concerned,  because  the  teachers,  having  been 
students,  had  had  their  minds  opened.  This  fact  pointed  likewise  to 
the  strategic  place  of  student  work  in  any  program  for  Russia. 

The  Volga  trip  served  to  emphasize  to  those  who  made  it,  some 
of  the  great  opportunities  for  work  in  Russia.  It  had  demonstrated 
that  country  work  was  possible.  Following  the  open  route  of  the 
rivers,  a  boat  might  tie  up  anywhere  and  get  an  audience.  It  had 
shown  the  need  for  such  work.  The  simplest  demonstrations  of 
cooking  and  for  food  values  were  of  use  in  meeting  the  stringent  food 
situation.  The  deeper  application  of  the  demonstrations  and  the 
lectures  could  be  grasped  by  a  few  and  turned  to  account  in  the 
community  life  for  the  good  of  larger  numbers.  Moreover,  the  trip 
had  shown  the  possibilities  and  needs  in  specific  places  for  intensive 
Association  work.  Nizhni-Novgorod  presented  limitless  possibili- 
ties. As  a  great  trade  center  it  brought  together  people  from  great 
distances :  old  traders  from  the  north  journeying  with  packs  on  their 
backs ;  many  people  passing  to  and  fro  in  boats.  Important  indus- 
trial suburbs  surrounded  the  town.  A  university  brought  together 
great  numbers  of  sudents.  The  president  of  the  university  having 
heard  of  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  asked  for  help  and  advice 
in  establishing  a  domestic  science  department,  even  signifying  his 
wiUingness  to  take  over  one  of  the  secretaries  to  be  on  the  faculty. 

83 


Kazan  and  Samara  also  had  universities,  the  importance  of  which 
was  greatly  increased  on  account  of  the  closing  of  the  universities 
in  Petrograd  and  Moscow. 

Other  possible  centers  for  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  been 
noted  by  the  secretaries  in  their  many  enforced  journeys.  The 
route  of  the  Siberian  railway  offered  opportunities  in  Perm  and 
Ekaterinburg,  in  Omsk  and  in  that  great  strategic  port  either  of 
entry  or  of  exit — Vladivostok. 

The  work  already  accomplished  in  Russia  had  demonstrated  it- 
self and  its  adaptability  to  Russian  women.  The  fact  that  they 
came  in  numbers  to  the  Moscow  Association,  which  was  none  too 
centrally  located,  at  a  time  when  traffic  conditions  were  crowded 
to  the  limit  and  when  the  matter  of  wearing  out  shoe  leather  had 
to  be  considered,  and  that  they  came  on  dark  nights  through  un- 
lighted  streets  with  the  sound  of  shooting  as  common  as  the  sound 
of  an  automobile  horn,  spoke  eloquently  for  the  continuance  and 
enlargement  of  the  work. 

But  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1918  brought  such  clouds  to  the 
political  horizon  as  made  the  storm  seem  too  near  for  further  risk. 
The  American  government  authorities  called  on  Americans  to  seek 
shelter  and  safety  outside  Russia  from  the  outbreak  that  was  sure 
to  come.  The  Red  Cross  was  going  to  Sweden,  The  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
was  ordered  there,  too. 

A  letter  dated  Stockholm,  Sweden,  September  12,  1918,  tells  a 
story,  by  contrasts,  of  endurance  and  pluck  and  unfailing  faith  in 
their  purpose : 

"We  feel  as  if  we  had  come  out  into  daylight  from  shadow,  and 
we  are  surprised  that  the  matter  of  food,  laundry,  repairing  old 
clothes  and  buying  new  ones  can  be  accomplished  with  so  little 
effort.  To  get  shoes  resoled  in  a  couple  of  days  or  a  waist  cleaned 
in  a  week  seems  a  miracle.  I  just  wish  I  could  give  you  an  idea  of 
how  the  neatness  and  order  and  cleanliness  of  the  buildings  and 
streets  excite  us.  And  the  shop  windows,  full  of  food  and  candy! 
It's  great  to  see  them. 

"Of  course  you  know  that  we  are  simply  en  route  to  Archangel 
via  Stockholm  and  we  do  not  consider  that  we  have  come  out  of 
Russia  at  all.  Probably  by  the  time  that  you  receive  this  letter 
we  shall  be  again  in  Archangel  and  pushing  down  into  central  Rus- 
sia again,  for  that  is  where  there  is  work  for  us." 

As  for  the  two  Associations  in  Russia,  Moscow  had  had  to  close 
in  August  when  the  Bolshevik  government  requisitioned  the  build- 
ing. Petrograd,  in  many  respects  like  an  abandoned  city,  had  al- 
lowed the  Association  to  continue  its  work  unnoticed  and  unmo- 
lested. The  fact  of  having  now  only  Russians  in  charge  had  made 
it  less  conspicuous. 

The  way  back  to  central  Russia  did  not  open  as  quickly  as  the 
optimistic  secretaries  had  thought.  There  was  opportunity,  how- 
ever, for  serving  in  Archangel,  where  a  number  of  American  troops 

84 


were  stationed  in  a  military  situation  that  called  for  specific  war 
work  as  loudly  as  any  need  in  France.  Archangel  might  present 
new  openings  for  real  Association  work,  or  it  might  be  a  blind  alley 
so  far  as  work  in  Russia  was  concerned.  But  at  least  it  furnished 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  an  opportunity  to  be  of  service  during  a  time  of 
enforced  waiting. 

Willingness  to  serve  is  not  always  the  only  requirement.  Some- 
times the  willingness  must  demonstrate  its  own  worthiness.  To 
get  the  necessary  permissions  for  going  was  easier  than  to  win  the 
unqualified  approbation  of  the  American  authorities.  Many  were 
the  situations  in  the  Great  War  that  furnished  women  the  chance 
to  prove  themselves.  But  none  was  more  rigorous  than  the  situa- 
tion in  North  Russia.  Nevertheless,  the  morning  of  October  5, 
1918  found  the  women  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  writing  from  Archangel: 
"We  have  just  this  morning  arrived  here  and  are  again  in  Rus- 
sia. It  is  so  exciting  to  hear  the  good  old  Russian  language  again." 
Their  motives  in  coming  sprang  from  two  sources :  their  desire  to 
be  in  Russia,  the  country  they  had  come  to  serve,  and  their  eager- 
ness to  make  their  presence  count  in  an  immediate  task  for  Ameri- 
can soldiers. 

The  American  North  Russia  Expeditionary  Forces  had  arrived  in 
Archangel  about  a  month  before  and  5,500  troops  were  quartered 
along  a  400  mile  Front  on  the  Archangel  to  Vologda  Railroad.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  at  work  with  a  splendid  program  as  an  Allied 
organization.  Large  huts  were  running  with  canteens  adapted  to 
handle  crowds  of  soldiers  from  all  the  y\]lied  nations.  The  help  of 
women  workers  was  very  much  needed  in  these  canteens.  And  to 
this  work  the  six  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  gladly  gave  themselves. 
Their  presence  behind  the  counter  added  a  touch  which  only  the 
American  woman  can  give  to  the  homesick  American  soldier.  One 
of  the  secretaries  describes  those  first  days : 

"We  arrived  some  weeks  after  the  landing  of  our  troops  when 
most  of  them  had  gone  to  the  various  fronts,  to  fight  in  the  cold 
swamps  of  a  seemingly  limitless  forest;  so  that  only  a  compara- 
tively small  unit  remained  in  Smolny,  Archangel  and  Solombola, 
three  adjoining  military  centers,  for  guard  duty.  The  joy  was  not 
less  than  the  amazement  of  these  soldiers  in  discovering  that  Ameri- 
can women  had  come  to  Archangel.  It  was  in  those  first  days  that 
we  were  constantly  amused  and  touched  by  their  frank  exclama- 
tions. One  day  we  entered  a  street  car.  Upon  apologizing  for 
stumbling  over  a  sizable  pair  of  American  feet,  an  astonished  youth 
rose  to  exclaim,  "Gee!  you  must  be  from  the  States!"  and  then 
as  the  word  was  passed  along  that  American  women  were  here,  a 
veritable;  car  of  smiles  greeted  us.  ^^rom  that  time,^,  swearing 
in  street  cars  and  on  the  streets  became  noticeably  les§17 

At  all  social  events  the  presence  of  the  American  women  was 
sought.  Almost  every  evening  some  one  of  them  was  present  at 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hut  in  the  Solombola  and  Solny  districts  and  every 
afternoon  and  evening  one  was  in  charge  of  the  canteen  at  the 
Central  Hut  in  Archangel.     Their  presence  made  it  natural  and 

8s 


possible  to  secure  the  help  of  congenial  volunteer  women  workers 
and  to  employ  the  right  kind  of  servants.  By  November,  1918,  even 
the  Ambassador  was  not  only  thoroughly  reconciled  to  having 
American  women  in  North  Russia  but  was  urging  that  ten  more 
secretaries  be  sent,  adding  to  his  request  an  unconscious  compli- 
ment for  the  six  already  present,  in  the  words.  "Send  only  strong 
characters." 

Wherever  they  went,  the  American  women  found  the  men  look- 
ing at  them  as  if  they  were  too  good  to  be  true.  "Gee,  it  sounds 
good  to  hear  an  American  woman's  voice !"  was  remarked  over  and 
over  again.  Both  men  and  officers,  too  ,  puzzled  over  why  the 
American  Army  was  there  and  what  would  come  of  it,  to  feel  in  the 
mood  for  making  the  little  sacrifices  necessary  in  a  soldier's  life, 
were  in  need  of  a  lot  of  cheering.  In  the  hospital  where  lay  the 
sick  and  wounded  facing  possibly  the  supreme  sacrifice,  the  passing 
about  among  the  cots  of  an  American  woman  brought  comfort  and 
courage.  Casual  visits  developed  real  acquaintance  and  oppor- 
tunities for  more  intimate  chats  over  problems  and  difficulties. 
Entertainments  of  all  sorts  were  part  of  the  program,  and  the  vari- 
ety in  the  nationalities  to  amuse  and  be  amused  furnished  variety 
in  costume,  color  and  form.  Each  nationality  celebrated  its  par- 
ticular national  day.  For  Americans  it  was  Thanksgiving  Day. 
Christmas  was  observed  by  all,  beginning  with  music  by  a  Rus- 
sian Church  choir  on  Christmas  Eve.  The  day  itself  was  packed 
so  full  of  joy  that  no  one  had  a  chance  to  get  homesick.  Carols 
sung  in  the  early  morning  through  the  wards,  packaged  and 
goodies  distributed  and  laughed  over,  Christmas  trees  decorated 
and  lighted  beside  the  beds  (a  special  dinner,  followed  by  real  cofifee 
and  cigars,  cheerful  stories  read),  all  these  things  made  Christmas 
cheery  at  the  Hospital.  The  huts  were  just  as  busy  with  a  round 
of  eating  and  entertaining. 

Not  only  to  the  men  in  Archangel  did  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secre- 
taries become  like  sisters  from  home,  but  even  to  the  men  upon 
the  railroad  front  they  went,  eager  to  share  in  the  life  of  these  box 
car  settlements  among  the  snow-laden  Russian  pines.  These  set- 
tlements of  a  few  block  houses  for  the  guards,  and  a  string  of 
diminutive  Russian  box  cars  along  two  or  three  sidings  compris- 
ing mess  car,  supply  car,  canteen  car,  a  big  American  box  car  to 
be  used  for  classes  and  lectures  and  a  large  steel  mail  car  arranged 
as  a  reception  car  for  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  kept  one  secretary  on  duty 
there  all  the  time.  If  she  left  they  petitioned  for  her  return.  What 
it  meant  to  the  men  in  these  days  of  twenty  hour  darkness  and  a 
temperature  of  thirty  or  forty  degrees  below  zero,  to  have  even  one 
American  woman  in  camp,  is  practically  expressed  by  the  boy 
who,  when  he  went  off  guard  duty,  left  a  standing  order,  "Wake 
me  up  if  the  *Y'  people  come !'  " 

Since  Archangel  was  the  center  for  all  these  American  troops 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  were  quick  to  recognize  the  need  there 
for  a  Hostess  House  designed  exclusively  to  be  to  the  American 
man  a  real  American  Home.     The  Y.  ^M.  C.  A.  huts  were  neces- 

86 


sarily  too  big  and  international  in  character  to  be  homelike,  wrote 
one  of  the  secretaries,  "although  they  were  all  as  attractive  as 
fresh  paint,  curtains  and  big  pictures  could  make  them!  Jji  this 
faraway  land  where  the  people  talk  such  an  outlandish  language 
and  customs  are  so  different,  we  wanted  to  keep  the  ideals  and 
memories  of  time  so  fresh  that  temptation  might  be  lessened,  re- 
sistance increased,.  an4  keeping  in  touch  with  mother,  wife  or 
sweetheart,  a  necessity." 

The  process  of  obtaining  a  house  was  as  long  and  as  involved 
as  in  other  parts  of  Russia.  Besides  there  were  the  Americans  to 
convince.  But  the  year's  experience  had  taught  these  American 
secretaries  the  value  of  persistence  in  obtaining  their  desires  and 
proving  their  point.  After  three  disappointments  a  house  was 
secured.  The  process  had  taken  three  months.  New  Year's  Eve 
celebrated  the  opening  event,  a  party  for  officers;  and  New  Year's 
Day,  1919,  welcomed  the  men  of  the  Army  to  their  "American 
Home"  in  North  Russia. 

The  three  rooms  the  furnishing  of  which  had  been  achieved 
more  by  ingenuity  and  artistic  adaptability  than  by  any  materials 
that  were  procurable  in  the  empty  shops  of  Archangel,  readily 
assumed  a  homelike  appearance  to  the  big  American  boys  who 
wandered  about  within  the  bright  flag  decked  walls  and  admired 
the  stenciled  coarse  linen  curtains,  To  them  it  was  palatial.  It 
was  a  place  exclusively  for  them  but  to  which  they  might  invite 
a  comrade  from  the  Russian,  Italian,  English,  Canadian  or  French 
Army.  The  cooperation  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  American  Red 
Cross  made  possible  the  serving  of  food  which  seemed  like  home 
too.  Pies,  doughnuts  and  pancakes,  even  chocolate  layer  cake, 
came  from  the  kitchen  and,  with  homelike  disregard  for  service 
hours,  were  in  demand  at  all  hours.  The  most  appreciative  guest 
of  all  was  the  boy  from  the  front,  to  whom  eager  hosts  never 
failed  to  show  off  all  the  marvels:  real  TUgs^  a  big^juirror,  a  hat 
rack,  and  best  of  all  an  American  rocking  chair.  rWhy,  boy,  it's 
a  real  home !"  wa^  the  unfailing  comment  and  pernaps  one  more 
wife  or  girl  back  in  America  would  have-r^eason  to  be  thankful 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  come  to  North  Russia^ 

The  summer  of  1919  brought  its  changes.  'The  American  troops 
sailed  for  home  with  the  Hostess  House  "on  the  job"  even  to  the 
moment  of  "Bon  Voyage"  to  speed  them  on  their  way  with  joy 
toward  their  real  American  homes.  The  secretaries  of  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  with  mingled  delight  and  sadness  that  this  day  of  the  sol- 
diers' release  had  come,  turned  their  attention  to  other  work. 
Never  iov  a  moment  had  they  forgotten  that  their  real  mission 
was  to  serve  girls. 

The  girls  of  Archangel  were  as  ready  to  become  Association 
en'tKusTasts  as  had  been  the  girls  of  Central  Russia.  '  With  the 
arrival  of  five  new  secretaries  in  July,  1919,  it  was  possible  to  plan 
some  club  work  immediately  in  the  rooms  that  had  formerly  been 
the  Hostess  House.  No  opportunity  had  been  lost  in  getting  ac- 
quainted  with   girls   and    their   needs.     Wherever   the   American 


secretaries  went,  even  if  it  were  off  on  a  day's  holiday,  they  were 
objects  of  special  interest  to  the  Russian  girls.  A  trip  one  day  to 
Solovetski,  the  great  monastery  of  North  Russia,  brought  the  sec- 
retaries into  contact  with  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  girls  who,  with 
their  parents  and  teachers,  were  on  the  sbip  making  a  pilgrimage 
to  this  sacred  place.  What  contrasts  the  two  groups  presented : 
The  American  secretaries,  alert,  straight,  uniformed,  low  -  heeled, 
spectacled,  were  the  incarnation  of  the  practical.  The  Russian 
girls,  slightly  stooping  as  they  strolled,  high-heeled,  some  with 
eyes  blinking  from  poor  sight,  because  in  Russia  only  the  old 
make  themselves  hideous  in  spectacles,  endlessly  reasoning  and 
fruitlessly  speculating,  were  living  representatives  of  the  theoreti- 
cal. And  what  possibilities  of  mutual  benefit  from  these  con- 
trasts ! 

It  was  not  long  before  the  groups  were  talking  together  by  the 
use  of  a  mixture  of  Russian,  English,  French  and  German,  to  the 
mutual  linguistic  improvement  of  both  groups.  As  soon  as  they 
heard  about  the  plan  of  opening  a  girls'  club  in  Archangel  the 
Russians  had  a  torrent  of  questions.  The  whole  idea  was  new  to 
them.  The  fact  that  there  could  be  a  place  like  that  designed  just 
for  girls  was  indeed  cause  for  questions.  When  would  it  open? 
How  many  could  come?     What  would  they  do? 

The  next  week  the  club  opened.  The  clean  fresh  rooms  were 
crowded  to  the  limit  and  class  registrations  mounted  up  by  heaps. 
The  teaching  of  English  gave  the  new  secretaries  something  to 
do.  There  was  one  doctor  among  them  who  was  quick  to  see  the 
great  needs  for  some  simple  lessons  in  hygiene.  With  the  aid  of 
an  interpreter,  Dr.  Warner  was  able  to  carry  on  two  large  classes. 
The  one  in  First  Aid  and  Emergency  Treatment,  with  fifty  girls 
registered  and  an  average  attendance  of  about  forty,  gave  special 
credit  for  outside  practice  in  actual  cases,  and  devoted  two  hours 
to  lecture  on  simple  physiology,  sex  hygiene,  and  social  rela- 
tions between  men  and  women  with  due  allowance  for  any  ques- 
tions the  girls  might  care  to  ask  on  any  of  the  subjects.  The 
other  class  dealt  with  Home  Nursing  and  Infant  Care.  Dr.  War- 
ner also  found  time  to  help  in  the  work  for  the  Girl  Guides. 

These  classes  gave  Dr.  Warner  an  insight  into  moral  conditions 
among  girls  which  deepened  her  conviction  of  the  need  for  Asso- 
ciation work  in  North  Russia.  Morals  were  at  low  ebb  among 
them.  She  found  the  girls  quick  to  grasp  the  theoretical  aspects 
of  the  subject,  but  slow  to  apply  them  in  practical  usefulness. 
And  yet  the  doctor  was  strong  in  her  belief  in  the  women  of  Rus- 
sia not  only  as  superior,  morally  and  intellectually  to  the  men, 
but  also  as  strategically  important  in  relation  to  the  future  of  Rus- 
sia. "J  firmly  believe,"  she  wrote  in  her  report,  ''that  with  very 
little- education  in  social  hygiene,  with  a  little  encouragement  as 
to  the  marvelous  possibilities,  latent  still,  in  these  very  women  of 
Russia — in  raising  the  morale  of  the  young  women  of  the  country, 
who-,  as  never  before,  are  branching  out  into  all  sorts  of  economic 
enterprises — the  social  and  moral  conditions  of  the  country  can 
be  raised  to  a  greater  height  with  unbelievable  rapidity." 


KT?^^     .                   ^^^^ 

^^Kyl^E^^'^ 

K| 

■'S^ 

^^^^^^K^^H     J^K° 

Ig^V^,                4 

^^^^^^^^^^L '  '^^     "aBPr'  f 

^s** 

89 


All  the  secretaries  were  impressed  likewise  with  the  limitless 
possibilities  for  the  future.  But  for  the  summer  of  1919  any  aspect 
of  work  was  necessarily  temporary.  The  political  situation  col- 
ored everything.  In  a  secretary's  own  words :  "Living  in  Russia 
now  is  like  living  on  a  volcano.  Yet  we  lived  on  that  volcano  for 
about  six  weeks,  very  happily  and  very  comfortably.  What  if  one 
did  see  many  soldiers  on  the  streets;  or  hear  the  monotonous 
clamp  of  their  iron  shod  boots  on  the  cobble  stones ;  or  what  if 
one  were  stopped  at  night  by  the  home  guards,  with  long  bayo- 
nets, very  weird  in  their  combination  of  civilian  and  mihtary 
clothes;  and  what  if  one  heard,  late  in  the  night,  mysterious  Rus- 
sian mutterings  in  which  one  could  only  grasp  the  word  'Bol- 
shevists' and  nothing  more;  and  what  if  one  heard  reports  of  ex- 
pected counter-revolutions  and  d^angers  from  Bolshevism.  In 
contrasts  there  was  the  incomparable  glow  of  sunlight  in  the  gold- 
en domes  of  the  cathedral,  a  pageant  of  color  on  the  street,  queer- 
ly  costumed  priests,  peasants  stopping  from  market  before  ikons 
or  small  chapels  and  crossing  themselves  again  and  again.  And 
best  of  all,  there  was  the  sunset  on  the  Dvina  with  the  domes  of 
Russian  churches  in  soft  outlines  in  the  distance.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  strange,  mysterious  effect  of  these  Russian  sunsets. 
Even  the  Allied  battleships  in  the  harbor  could  not  withstand  the 
charm  and  seemed  to  be  only  phantom  ships  of  blue  and  pink.  I 
wanted  to  sit  under  the  white  birches  along  the  quay  and  dream 
dreams  and  see  visions.  How  can  a  Russian  excel  in  anything  but 
art  and  letters  when  he  has  such  haunting  beauty  about  him?" 
So  vivid  an  understanding  of  Russia  and  the  Russian  temperament 
must  have  value  for  future  days. 

The  girls'  club  of  Archangel  was  destined  to  be  interrupted.  In 
September,  1919,  came  the  sweeping  order  for  all  the  Allies  to 
leave  Russia.  There  was  no  escape  this  time.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
must  go  too.  When  the  news  was  known,  a  spirit  of  sadness  de- 
scended upon  the  girls  meeting  for  classes.  VTlesson  were  set  aside 
for  other  topics  which  sprang  from  deep  ^^ated  interest  in  the 
American  secretaries  and  all  that  surrounded  their  departure — 
questions  of  the  great  land  from  which  they  came  and  to  which 
they  would  some  day  return.  What  was  America  like?  And  the 
secretaries  gladly  satisfied  the  eager  questions,  and  in  their  turn 
were  just  as  eager  to  ask  more  about  Russia.  The  last  class  hour 
was  given  up  to  talk  about  Russia,  her  literature,  her  music,  her 
dance,  her  drama.  The  girls  delighted  to  hear  what  Russian  lit- 
erature and  music  meant  to  other  nations.  They  described  their 
Russian  Easter.  Then  the  needs  of  Russia^ere  discussed.  They 
agreed  that  the  greatest  need  was  education.j 

On  the  last  evening  a  farewell  speech  was  made  by  one  of  the 
girls  in  an  attempt  to  express  their  appreciation  for  what  the  Club 
had  meant.     The  following  is  her  own  translation : 

"The  girls  begged  me  to  make  a  speech,  but  I  beg  your  pardon 
that  I  shall  not  say  much,  because  I  am  very  excited  and  therefore 
my  speech  may  be  confused.  But,  what  I  want  to  say,  is  true  not 
only  for  myself,  but  every  one  of  you. 

90 


"We  assemble  here  for  the  last  time,  assemble  like  members  of 
a  family  to  say  'Goodbye'  to  those,  who  did  for  us  so  much.  I 
would  like  to  describe  my  impressions  about  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  I 
remember  that  day  when  one  of  my  friends  who  was  on  the  con- 
ference told  me  about  the  opening  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  In  the 
Autumn  when  the  evenings  were  cold  and  dark  and  dreary  I 
thought  many  times  how  it  would  be  good  if  the  girls  should 
gather  somewhere  for  work  and  for  amusement.  I  think  that 
many  of  you  wished  the  same.  I  was  very  glad  when  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  was  open,  perhaps  now  it  seems  very  funny,  but  then  really 
I  could  not  laugh.  When  I  came  to  sign  my  name  I  was  met  very 
sincerely,  like  an  old  acquaintance. 

"Many  girls  became  members  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association.  Our  American  friends  were  trying  to  join  the  pleas- 
ant and  the  useful.  They  were  trying  to  give  us  such  knowledge, 
which  is  most  necessary  in  our  life.  English  lessons,  French  les- 
sons, typewriting  and  stenography  lesson,  all  that  make  it  more 
possible  to  find  work.  Besides  this  we  had  First  Aid  lessons,  which 
we  need  so  much  in  our  hard  times.  All  these  lessons  were  for  us 
very  interesting  because  they  were  taught  by  the  teachers  who 
loved  very  much  their  own  work  and  therefore  they  gave  us  their 
love  too.    We  will  try  to  use  our  knowledge  in  life. 

"All  the  members  were  very  fond  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Every- 
body came  here  after  their  work  to  talk  with  our  friends,  to  enjoy 
and  to  laugh.  It  was  very  nice  in  these  cosy  rooms  with  plenty 
of  electric  light.  Everybody  felt  themselves  very  much  at  home 
and  all  the  troubles  were  going  far  away,  and  nobody  wanted  to 
go  home  and  be  separated  from  our  American  friends.  The  fol- 
lowing evening  we  came  again,  and  again,  it  was  so  nice.  Many 
of  us  have  no  relations  here  and  for  them  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was 
like  a  relative  family.  They  find  here  attention  and  affection  and 
forget  that  they  are  quite  alone.  In  our  hard  times  we  need  par- 
ticularly much  attention  and  affection,  and  our  American  friends 
gave  it  to  us.  They  arranged  for  us  every  Sunday  concert,  games 
and  singing,  always  they  were  with  us  and  took  part  in  our  amuse- 
ments. 

"Today  we  assemble  in  order  to  say,  not  goodbye  for  ever,  but 
goodby  for  the  present,  and  to  give  them  best  wishes.  We  hope 
that  again  we  will  meet  you  very,  very  soon,  and  continue  our 
work  together.  A  'Great  Russian  Thank  You'  to  you.  In  this 
short  time  we  loved  you,  and  we  are  very,  very  sorry  about  your 
departure.  The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  shall  be 
for  us  a  bright  and  beautiful  remembrance  for  our  whole  life." 

Thus  closed  the  six  weeks  of  club  work  with  the  girls  of  Arch- 
angel. Although  limited  in  point  of  time  the  club  work  had  been 
of  a  type  comparable  to  the  most  general  Association  work.  The 
girls  had  come  from  the  larger  offices  representing  the  telegraph, 
telephone,  post  office,  bank,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  British  General  Head- 
quarters, and  the  ouprava,  the  city  government  offices  as  well  as 
the  Archangel  or  State  government  offices.     Many  of  them  were 

91 


separated  from  their  families  and  living  in  small  rooms  with  no 
place  to  seek  recreation  except  where  the  many  temptations  usual 
to  a  port  city  surrounded  them.  Comparing  them  with  American 
girls  a  secretary  said:  "I  found  the  Russian  girls  very  much  like 
American  girls,  in  enthusiasm,  frankness,  originality,  spontaneity, 
but  very  lacking  in  the  qualities  of  leadership  and  action.  They 
read  better  literature  than  our  girls  of  the  same  position  would 
read,  and  they  discuss  politics,  religion  and  philosophy  with  more 
sincerity  and  depth." 

Owing  to  the  uncertainties  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  planned  its 
work  on  a  short  term  basis.  But  even  the  six  weeks  had  served 
to  introduce  new  hope  for  the  future  into  the  lives  of  hundreds  of 
girls  in  Archangel. 

*'I  shall  never  forget  those  girls  at  Archangel,"  writes  one  of 
th^  secretaries.  "Their  gratitude,  their  responsiveness,  and  kind- 
ness will  be  a  lasting  memory.  They  are  now  living  through  not 
only  a  political  crisis,  but  a  religious  and  moral  one  as  well.  I 
believe  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  a  very  unique  and  large  work  to  do 
with  these  splendid  girls  of  Russia."  One  result  of  the  presence 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Archangel  was  the  coming  of  a  girl  from 
Archangel  to  the  National  Training  .School  in  New  York,  where 
she  took  the  year's  course  preparatory^  to  service  among  her  own 
people. 

The  leaving  of  Archangel  in  September,  1919  closed  the  first 
chapter  of  the  story  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Russia  proper.  For 
about  two  years  and  a  half  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  been 
in  Russia  with  the  object  primarily  of  carrying  on  a  program  of 
regular  Association  work  adapted  to  specific  Russian  needs.  This 
program  had  included  organization  in  Petrograd,  Moscow  and 
Archangel.  In  certain  places  where  they  found  themselves  from 
force  of  circumstances  the  secretaries  had  given  time  to  helping  in 
other  situations,  notably  in  the  Archangel  Hostess  House  and 
recreational  program  for  the  North  Russia  unit  of  the  American 
army;  in  Samara  where  they  helped  in  some  playground  and 
physical  education  work  and  in  the  leadership  of  the  Girl  Scouts. 
They  had  cooperated  with  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in. some  country  wel- 
fare work  along  the  Volga  River  in  the  summer  of  1918.  They 
had  touched  the  Student  situation  as  they  visited  university  cen- 
ters. They  had  served  the  American  consulate  in  assisting  in  the 
distribution  of  a  sum  of  money  given  for  the  relief  of  officers'  and 
soldiers'  families;  and  they  had  served  the  British  Military 
authorities  until  an  English  woman  could  arrive,  in  running  a 
Home  for  Russian  women  and  girls  just  released  from  prison.  In 
these  varied  capacities  the  time  spent  had  counted  in  an  influence 
out  of  all  proportion  to  their  numbers,  as  testify  letters  sent  back 
from  the  American  front  in  Russia  or  from  Russian  girls  in  the 
clubs.  One  man  who  was  an  eyewitness  to  their  pluck,  their  ver- 
satility, their  endurance,  remarked  that  there  were  no  better  sol- 
diers in  Russia  than  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

When  the  day^  came  for  leaving  Russia,  therefore,   the  Y.  W. 

92 


C.  A.  obeying  orders  in  the  spirit  of  true  soldiers,  marched  out  as 
full  of  courage  as  they  had  entered.  In  September,  1919,  Miss 
Dunham  and  Miss  Taylor  met  in  Christiania,  Norway,  three  new 
secretaries  who  had  been  sent  out  as  reinforcements  from  New 
York  headquarters  in  the  summer.  Together  they  talked  over  the 
situation,  what  had  been  accomplished,  the  reasons  for  the  inter- 
ruption, the  outlook  for  the  future. 

It  was  evident  that  these  new  secretaries  must  be  delayed  for 
some  time  before  being  allowed  to  enter  Russia.  They  therefore 
made  plans  for  using  their  time  wherever  they  were  for  the  good 
of  Russia.  Russian  language  lessons,  a  study  of  Russian  history 
and  customs  through  close  contact  with  Russian  people,  and  the 
helping  of  individual  cases  of  Russian  women  and  girls  whom  they 
chanced  to  meet,  filled  the  days.  Inasmuch  as  all  Scandinavia 
was  filled  with  Russian  refugees,  their  Russian  contact  was  direct 
and  timely.  When  they  moved  from  Christiania,  Norway,  to 
Stockholm,  Sweden,  and  from  Stockholm  to  Helsingfors,  Finland, 
they  still  found  it  interesting  and  pofitable  to  come  in  touch  with 
other  national  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  likewise  organized  under  the 
World's  Committee,  as  well  as  to  take  a  hand  in  Red  Cross  sew- 
ing and  distribution  stations,  and  in  refugee  relief  carried  on  un- 
der the  several  governments.  But  whatever  the  immediate  task  in 
hand,  they  worked  with  their  eyes  always  on  Russia — her  outlook, 
her  needs,  her  challenge  to  service. 

In  December,  1919,  Miss  Ebertha  Roelofs  wrote  from  Helsing- 
fors: "Although  some  people  might  question  the  advisability  of 
Miss  Cline's  and  my  being  in  Scandinavia  so  long,  since  the  possi- 
bility of  getting  into  Petrograd  seems  about  as  remote  as  ever, 
still  we  believe  that  it  is  very  worth  while  for  us  to  be  here.  We 
think  we  might  be  called  the  American  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  Mission  to  Scandinavia  for  the  strengthening  of 
friendships  and  the  exchanging  of  ideas  and  methods."  They 
had  been  welcomed  in  Finland,  where  there  was  so  much  to  be 
done  for  refugees.  From  Helsingfors  they  were  transferred  in 
January,  1920,  to  Viborg  to  help  in  the  work  of  the  Russian  Red 
Cross. 

The  first  task  they  were  asked  to  do  in  Viborg  was  to  conduct 
a  dining  room  for  refugees,  with  two  Russian  women  as  assist- 
ants, one  of  whom  spoke  Finnish,  thus  being  able  to  attend  to  the 
buying.  The  plan  was  to  serve  a  dinner  of  five  marks  to  those 
who  were  able  to  pay  that  small  sum,  and  to  give  it  free  to  those 
whose  cards  showed  their  inability  to  pay.  The  money  thus  col- 
lected was  expected  to  pay  running  expenses.  The  food,  it  was 
hoped,  could  be  obtained  from  America. 

The  Finns,  who  had  not  forgotten  America's  kindness  in  send- 
ing them  food  when  they  were  starving,  were  glad  to  cooperate 
with  the  American  secretaries  in  their  undertakings.  In  their 
search  for  a  location  for  the  restaurant,  they  ran  across  some  ex- 
cellent quarters  for  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work.  The  opportunity  for  this 
work  had  come  through  a  Sunday  night  Bible  class  meeting  at  the 

93 


home  of  a  ninety  year  old  Russian  lady,  Madame  Cherkoff,  a 
friend  of  Baroness  Nickolay.  Miss  Roelofs,  who  was  asked  to 
speak  to  the  group,  invited  the  young  women  to  tea  the  follow- 
ing Wednesday,  January  21,  1920. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  Y.  W.  C,  A.  work  for  Russian  women 
refugees.  And  such  a  meeting  as  it  was !  Instead  of  the  ten  who 
were  expected,  twenty  were  squeezed  into  the  new  rooms  and 
overflowed  into  the  hall.  Their  great  desire  was  to  hear  all  about 
what  American  girls  did  in  their  Associations.  This  made  op- 
portunity for  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  gospel  of  good 
health  in  some  simple  gymnastic  exercises.  For  these  exercises 
the  group  expanded  into  the  dining  room,  and  when  the  leader 
opened  the  window  and  jumped  up  on  a  table,  their  amazement 
reached  its  climax.  The  strenuous  part  of  the  program  was  fol- 
lowed by  tea  and  a  cozy  talk,  through  an  interpreter,  on  the  edu- 
cational system  in  America.  Considering  the  ease  with  which 
Russians  express  their  religion,  it  was  natural  to  follow  this  with 
a  hymn  led  by  a  woman  interested  in  Madame  Cherkoff's  Bible 
class,  and  with  a  religious  talk  and  an  invitation  to  come  to  the 
class. 

Work  such  as  this  fully  occupied  the  time  of  the  two  secre- 
taries who  were  waiting  in  Scandinavia.  Other  secretaries,  like- 
wise en  route  to  Russia  were  waiting  at  other  doors  of  entrance 
into  that  vast  country  which  stretches  across  two  continjents. 
One  group,  known  as  the  South  Russia  unit,  were  in  Constanti- 
nople. Another  group,  known  as  the  Siberia  unit,  were  in  Vladi- 
vostok. These  units  furnished  variety  to  the  records  of  what  the 
Blue  Triangle  could  accomplish  in  widely  varied  situations  with 
differing  problems.  But  in  purpose  they  were  unitedly  deter- 
mined to  help  in  each  situation  by  bringing  one  more  Christian  in- 
fluence to  bear  upon  the  disintegrating,  questioning  forces  of  the 
Russian  social  structure  in  this  formative  period  for  Russia. 

The  South  Russia  unit  was  composed  of  three  secretaries 
destined  for  the  work  in  the  north — at  Archangel  or  in  Central 
Russia — who  had  arrived  after  the  way  was  barred,  and  of  an- 
other small  group  of  secretaries  who  had  sailed  directly  to  the 
South,  landing  at  Constantinople.  With  the  hope  of  entering 
Russia  by  one  of  the  southern  ports,  or,  at  least,  of  being  on  the 
ground  ready  to  enter  when  the  way  was  opened,  these  secre- 
taries joined  forces  in  Constantinople  with  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  unit 
serving  under  the  American  Committee  for  Near  East  Relief. 
Besides  carrying  on  their  Russian  language  study  they  were  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Committee  for  whatever  service  they  could 
render  in  the  work  of  relief  for  refugees,  particularly  Russians. 

Russian  refugees  numbering  into  the  thousands  were  scattered 
about  in  colonies,  some  of  them  in  Constantinople  proper,  some  of 
higher  class  assigned  for  the  summer  to  Halki,  an  island  in  the 
Bosphorus,  formerly  a  summer  resort;  one  shipload  of  800  arriv- 
ing from  Odessa,  200  of  them  sick  and  wounded,  were  hastily  re- 
ceived on  the  island  of   Proti,  one  of  the   Princes'   Islands.     In 

04 


such  emergencies  as  meeting  and  relieving  these  800  from  Odessa, 
the  Near  East  Relief  turned  gladly  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries 
for  help.  "Fortunately,  there  is  in  Constantinople  a  Russian  unit 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A."  wrote  one  of  the  officers  on  February  14, 
1920.  "We  asked  them  if  they  would  like  to  cooperate  in  this 
Russian  relief;  they  eagerly  accepted  and  at  the  present  time  the 
whole  Russian  unit  is  on  the  island  working  hard  in  close  cooper- 
ation with  us.  Several  of  them  speak  Russian  and  they  are  very 
helpful.  Will  you  say  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  that  Major  Arnold  says 
every  one  of  them  is  an  Al  worker  and  we  are  glad  to  have 
them." 

The  unit  was  also  able  to  cooperate  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in 
some  recreatiom  and  gymnastic  activities  for  the  children  in  a 
Russian  school  which  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  promoting.  This  work 
was  beneficial  on  both  sides,  enabling  the  secretaries  to  acquire  a 
little  more  facility  in  understanding  the  Russian  language  and  peo- 
ple, and  interesting  the  Russians — not  only  the  children  in  the 
classes  but  the  ever  present  adult  spectators  in  organized  play. 

A  few  Russian  women  and  girls  were  helped  through  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  Service  Center,  of  which  the  first  was  established  in 
Constantinople  in  June,  1919,  with  no  limit  by  nationalities  in  its 
field  of  service.  In  the  turmoil  of  races  that  war  and  pre-war  con- 
ditions had  produced  in  the  Near  East,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  find- 
ing its  policies  ever  broadening,  its  scope  international. 

While  the  South  Russia  unit  was  thus  engaged  in  the  Near 
East,  the  Siberia  unit  was  at  work  in  the  Far  East  Siberia,  re- 
mote from  the  center  stage  of  the  Great  War,  was  yet  carrying  on 
a  war  program  in  the  wings ;  and  the  nine  secretaries  who  reached 
Vladivostok  in  the  summer  of  1919  found  the  opportunities  for 
work  unlimited  by  any  imagined  remoteness.  To  them  Vladi- 
vostok, with  its  700  American  soldiers  (and  more  along  the 
Siberian  railroad),  its  ever  present  Japanese,  its  Russians,  its 
Czech  soldiers  and  its  characteristic  mixture  of  other  European 
military  uniforms,  together  with  its  hordes  of  Russian  and  Czech 
refugees,  and  its  pathetic  colony  o^  Russian  children,  seemed  the 
center  of  the  universe.  Certainly  the  ends  of  the  earth  were  there 
represented. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  arrived  in  June  and  July,  1919. 
They  were  immediately  recognized  as  one  of  the  welfare 
agencies  working  with  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  and 
as  such  were  facilitated  in  the  business  of  finding  a  location  and 
establishing  headquarters.  They  were  given  representation  on 
the  weekly  council  which  met  with  the  morale  officer  for  the  pur- 
pose of  uniting  and  coordinating  activities.  One  secretary  was 
assigned  to  the  staff  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  International  Hut  to  work 
out  some  principles  of  cooperation  with  that  organization.  In  the 
Sunday  morning  religious  service,  as  in  the  soldiers'  and  sailors' 
dances,  the  presence  of  the  newcomers — "real  American  women" 
— touched  the  occasion  with  a  bit  of  home  atmosphere.  One  sec- 
retary wrote:    "The  simple  fact  of  being  an  American  woman  in 

95 


this  community  brings  with  it  responsibilities  and  privileges  of 
service  which,  in  themselves,  make  demand  enough  upon  our  time 
and  strength  to  make  life  very  full  even  without  the  activities 
which  we  ourselves  promote,  to  say  nothing  of  the  task  of  at- 
tempting to  learn  something  of  the  Russian  language." 

The  plan  of  essentially  Y.  W.  C.  A.  activities  included  a  Hostess 
House  and  some  recreation  work  for  the  men  of  the  American 
Army  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  program  of  work  for  women  and 
children  of  Vladivostok  and  of  the  refugees  on  the  other.  And  yet 
in  the  following  month,  August,  1919,  the  secretaries  were  writing 
back  in  their  reports  that  the  "kaleidoscopic  changes  of  plans  and 
of  facts  upon  which  to  base  plans"  produced  a  unique  challenge  to 
resourcefulness,  originality  and  patience.  *'We  are  learning  that 
the  only  fact  upon  which  we  can  actually  depend  is  the  fact  that 
no  fact  is  dependable.  We  live  on  rumors  and  act  on  emergen- 
cies!" The  arrival  of  two  new  secretaries  that  month,  however, 
making  nine  in  all,  added  strength  to  the  force. 

As  usual  in  such  war  crowded  centers  a  location  for  a  Hostess 
House  was  difficult  to  find,  and,  once  found,  was  slow  to  get  in 
order,  owing  to  the  complications  of  the  East,  which  cannot  be 
hurried,  and  of  the  military,  which  cannot  disentangle  itself  from 
official  red  tape.  By  the  end  of  July,  1919,  however,  the  House, 
or  at  least  a  part  of  it,  was  opened,  and  by  September  the  cafe- 
teria or  canteen  was  running.  Certain  furnishings,  such  as  wicker 
tables  and  easy  chairs,  had  been  brought  from  Japan.  Through 
the  kindness  of  the  American  Library  Association,  three  shelves 
of  good  fiction  were  installed.  The  formal  opening  was  a  Sunday 
afternoon  concert  by  a  Czech  orchestra  followed  by  tea  served 
from  a  Russian  samovar.  Add  to  this  setting  the  American 
doughboys  drinking  English  tea  out  of  dainty  Japanese  tea  cups 
and  the  international  aspect  of  Vladivostok  is  complete.  Even  in 
an  international  setting,  however,  the  doughboy  is  still  an  Ameri- 
can doughboy,  and  it  was  not  unusual  for  him  to  supersede  the 
Czech  orchestra  with  some  good  old  American  "rag,"  and  to  sup- 
plement the  tea  with  cozy  talk  to  a  real  American  girl,  one  of  the 
hostesses.  These  Sunday  afternoons  proved  so  popular  that  they 
were  continued  into  the  fall  and  winter. 

The  cafeteria  was  one  reason  for  the  popularity  of  the  Hostess 
House.  To  be  able  to  get  good  food  of  the  American  variety  at 
an  attractive  place  reserved  for  Americans  only,  was  a  fact  to  be 
appreciated.  Out  of  the  700  American  troops  stationed  in  Vladi- 
vostok a  large  proportion  expressed  their  appreciation  by  their 
presence  and  appetite.  To  take  the  figures  for  one  month,  Decem- 
ber, 1919:  Fourteen  hundred  and  twenty-seVen  men  were 
served;  receipts  were  $731.85;  the  average  check  was  fifty-one 
cents.  Sailors  too  were  among  those  present  as  long  as  a  ship 
was  in  port  and  the  weather  made  possible  the  long  walk  to  the 
Hostess  House.  Even  after  the  cold  had  set  in,  one  sailor  walked 
out  to  consume  at  one  sitting,  five  baked  custards,  three  chocolate 
puddings,  two  pieces  of  pie  and  cake,  and  departed  with  his  pock- 
ets filled  with  doughnuts. 

96 


For  special  occasions  the  Hostess  House  and  its  catering  facili- 
ties were  in  demand.  There  were  the  farewell  parties  for  the  men 
who  were  leaving,  which  called  for  a  cake  with  inscriptions  on 
top.  There  were  the  dances,  both  officers'  and  privates',  which 
must  have  refreshments.  There  was  the  special  and  proper  food  to 
be  prepared  for  the  soldier  prize  fighters  when  they  were  in  train- 
ing. There  were  the  cocoa  and  cookies  to  be  sent  over  once  a 
week  to  the  men  at  the  Evacuation  Hospital.  There  was  the  offi- 
cial entertaining,  a  dinner  for  General  Graves  and  another  for 
Admiral  Rodgers.  And  there  were  the  picnics  and  all  that  they 
meant  for  enjoying  the  out-of-doors  in  wholesome  frolics  as  long 
as  the  summer  weather  lasted.  But  the  greatest  occasions  were 
Thanksgiving  and  Christmas  which  became  homelike  for  the 
Americans,  with  dinners  and  dances  amid  the  proper  decorations. 
Into  these  celebrations  the  soldiers  and  sailors,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Red 
Cross,  and  Knights  of  Columbus,  entered  with  real  American  zest 
which  meant  success  to  the  festivities. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  program,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  attempt- 
ing some  work  for  women  and  girls.  To  be  of  service  to  the 
American  women  wherever  they  are  found  is  the  first  duty  of  the 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The  nurses  of  the  Red  Cross  working 
near  Vladivostok  and  living  in  barracks  found  delightful  recrea- 
tion in  the  swimming  parties,  picnics,  and  other  aflfairs  arranged 
by  the  secretaries  and  in  their  turn  extended  the  secretaries  the 
hospitality  of  their  comfortable  living  quarters  for  occasional 
shampoos  and  baths.  Some  of  the  nurses  were  stationed  at  the 
Russian  Island  Hospital  six  miles  by  water  from  Vladivostok  and 
therefore,  somewhat  isolated.  The  assistance  of  the  secretaries  in 
doing  shopping  was  a  contribution  much  needed  and  appreciated 
by  these  nurses.  All  the  American  women  worked  together  for  the 
special  occasions  of  the  Thanksgiving  and  Christmas  parties,  and 
as  far  as  work  would  permit  joined  in  the  recreation  activities. 
By  special  request  a  gymnasium  class  was  started  for  the  Red 
Cross  nurses  and  their  Russian  aides  in  training,  to  whom  special 
credit  was  given  for  the  course. 

To  be  of  service  to  Russian  women  and  girls  in  Vladivostok, 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  found  the  avenues  of  approach  through  class 
work  fitted  to  their  needs.  In  October,  1919,  there  were  four 
groups  of  subjects: 

1.  English  classes  with  social  and  other  educational  features  in- 
cluding a  class  in  business  training,  with  the  definite  aim  of  devel- 
oping a  permanent  club  group.     About  200  were  in  these  classes. 

2.  Sewing  classes  looking  toward  vocational  work  with  a  Rus- 
isian  woman  in  charge  of  the  drafting  and  advanced  dressmaking. 
About  seventy-five  were  enrolled. 

3.  Classes  in  physical  training.  'Difiiculty  in  securing  the  use  of 
a  gymnasium  delayed  the  opening  but  failed  to  detract  from  the 
ardor  of  the  girls  who  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  work  and 
frolicked  and  played  with  the  enthusiasm  of  girlhood. 

n 


4.  Special  work  on  embroidered  articles  of  characteristic  Rus- 
sian design  and  other  typical  needlework  with  a  view  to  finding  a 
sale  for  these  and  thus  helping  to  solve  the  acutej  financial  prob- 
lems of  many  girls.  This  department  flourished,  as  it  served  two 
purposes :  to  make  known  the  possibilities  of  securing  such  work, 
and  to  encourage  the  creation  of  lovely  Russian  articles. 

On  November  14,  1919,  the  girls  of  all  the  classes  were  brought 
together  to  hear  something  about  the  movement  that  was  thus 
serving  them,  how  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  happened  to  come  to  Vladi- 
vostok and  some  possibilities  for  the  future.  Besides  the  Ameri- 
can secretaries  who  spoke  and  who  showed  pictures  of  how  Ameri- 
can girls  used  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  a  Russian  woman  who  was  present 
to  act  as  interpreter,  told  what  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  meant  to  her 
in  America.  A  discussion  in  true  Russian  fashion  finished  the 
meeting,  the  questions  showing  the  eagerness  of  the  girls  to  "be- 
long" .and  thus  to  be  contributing  to  the  project.  It  was  ar- 
ranged that  each  class  appoint  one  member  as  their  representa- 
tive on  a  central  committee  to  help  plan  other  evening  gatherings 
and  make  suggestions  for  furthering  the  work. 

Progress  lay  along  this  line.  To  watch  the  development  of 
unified  action  through  this  "Get  Together"  movement  was  to  see 
growth  not  only  in  the  work  but  in  individuals ;  while  to  know 
the  girls  as  individuals  was  the  ever  increasing  privilege  of  the 
secretaries  who  made  opportunities  for  At  Home  days  and  Sun- 
day afternoon  teas.  On  the  first  Sunday  afternoon  twenty-two 
members  of  classes  came. 

Interest  in  class  work  was  maintained.  For  the  month  of 
November  there  were  1,247  in  total  attendance  at  classes  averag- 
ing a  little  more  than  sixty-two  for  every  day  of  class  work.  Then 
came  a  revolution  and  two  days'  interruption,  for  even  in  Russia 
revolutions  are  not  common  enough  to  avoid  interruptions.  The 
end  of  the  year  1919,  however,  found  the  Russian  girls  of  Vladi- 
vostok more  interested  than  ever  in  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
constantly  demanding  greater  things  in  their  class  work  and 
making  steady  program.  "It  is  a  real  pleasure,"  wrote  one  of  the 
secretaries,  "to  see  the  responsiveness  and  enthusiasm  of  the  girls, 
and  makes  one  feel  that  there  are  great  possibilities  ahead." 

y  The  work  continued  into  1920  and  then  was  necessarily  stopped 
by  the  enforced  evacuation  of  Vladivostok.  The  American  secre- 
taries left  their  Russian  girl  friends  withj  regret  for  the  brevity 
of  the  work,  but  great  hopes  that  some  seeds  had  been  planted 
which  would  spring  up  in  future  developments  of  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
work  among  Russian  girls. 

Side  by  side  with  this  work--/or  Russian  girls  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
had  found  one  of  its  greatest  fields  of  service  among  the  Russian 
children  who  were  living  in  a  colony  on  Russian  Island.  Eight 
hundred  children,  aged  seven  to  twenty,  had  come  as  refugees 
from  all  parts  of  Russia.  Most  of  them  were  sent  by  their  parents 
in  charge  of  teachers  from  Petrograd  and  the  environs  to  stay  till 
the  war  was  over.     But  the  war  went  on  and  the  children  stayed 

98 


on.  The  travel  had  been  by  box  car  and  necessarily  attended  by 
hardships  and  yet  there  had  been  few  deaths  among  them.  Two 
children  had  drifted  in  from  South  Russia  having  traveled  all 
alone  from  Odessa  and  not  knowing  exactly  who  they  were  or 
how  they  had  reached  Vladivostok. 

The  American  Red  Cross  had  agreed  to  look  after  the  children. 
But  they  arrived  before  Russian  Island  was  ready  to  receive  them. 
This  made  a  difficult  situation,  with  barracks  not  clean,  no  water 
system  provided,  frozen  pipes  useless,  children  jammed  into  one 
end  of  the  barracks  and  baggage  at  the  other.  Moreover,  the 
matter  of  entertaining  the  children  was  serious.  The  little  boys 
and  girls  were  kept  together;  the  older  boys  and  girls  were  sep- 
arated at  the  island,  although  they  had  been  together  en  route. 
About  half  were  girls.  Big  bearded  boys  with  nothing  to  do  but 
to  sit  around  on  the  bed  and  smoke,  made  the  problem  of  morale 
a  serious  one.  The  separation  from  all  contact  with  home  was 
unavoidably  pathetic.  One  letter  received  from  a  parent  had 
been  posted  on  the  bulletin  board  for  all  the  children  to  read,  so 
rare  was  this  occurrence. 

The  program  at  the  Island  consisted  of  a  school  run  in  double 
shifts  morning  and  afternoon.  The  older  girls  had  to  do  their 
own  sewing  and  also  to  sew  together  in  clubs  for  the  smaller 
children.  It  was  in  the  program  of  club  and  recreation  work  that 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  came  in  to  help.  One  secretary  was  sent  to  live 
at  the  Island.  Four  clubs  were  organized.  Through  some  classes 
in  gymnastics,  and  organized  play,  hikes,  picnics,  and  general 
good  times  together,  many  of  the  children  were  kept  helpfully 
busy  and  out  of  mischief.  Great  variety  was  seen  in  the  colony, 
some  of  them  having  had  many  advantages.  There  were  some 
beautiful  dancers  among  them,  from  the  best  Russian  schools. 
Others  knew  music. 

One  pathetic  incident  cross-sections  the  life.  A  child  died. 
Since  there  was  no  Russian  priest  available,  it  became  the  duty 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  to  attend  the  funeral  service.  Tak- 
ing with  her  some  of  the  playmates  of  the  dead  child,  they  went 
to  the  grave.  The  children,  without  books  or  coaching,  sang  the 
Russian  burial  service  through  to  the  end.  They  knew  it  as  they 
had  known  their  dead  'comrade,  like  a  familiar  friend.  In  another 
instance  the  secretary  herself  with  the  help  of  two  children,  put 
up  the  headstone  to  mark  the  grave  of  a  child. 

Two  years  spent  in  a  box  car  are  not  conducive  to  the  develop- 
ment, mental,  spiritual  or  social,  of  a  growing  child;  and  yet  that 
is  the  length  of  time  some  of  these  children  had  been  on  the  road. 
The  little  niceties  of  life  were  in  danger  of  disappearing  along  with 
the  little  vanities.  When  little  chips  of  mirrors  were  all  they 
possessed,  how  could  the  girls  be  careful  about  their  appearances? 
One  teacher  possessed  a  square  hand  glass  which  was  loaned  about 
among  the  girls  continually  as  a  special  privilege.  When  at 
Christmas  time  a  group  was  brought  in  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  House 
to  sing  Christmas  carols,  the  thing  that  amazed  them  was  not  so 

99 


much  the  size  of  the  rooms  but  the  huge  mirrors  that  decorated 
the  walls.  Bewildered  at  such  luxury  and  caught  by  so  many  re- 
flections, they  turned  and  turned  as  they  gazed  and  wondered. 

So  tremendous  a  problem  as  that  which  the  Red  Cross  was 
working  out  on  Russian  Island  necessarily  takes  time.  To  house 
and  feed  the  children  as  well  as  to  provide  what  educational  ad- 
vantages were  available  under  the  conditions,  was  a  courageous 
undertaking.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  taking  charge  of  the  recreation, 
made  a  contribution  which  counted  in  the  work,  as  a  touch,  no 
matter  how  small,  upon  the  lives  of  children,  must  always  count. 
It  was  with  regret  on  both  sides  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  was 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  secretary's  enforced  leaving  of  Vladi- 
vostok. As  a  result  of  contacts  formed,  however,  two  teachers  in 
charge  of  the  Russian  Island  group  came  later  to  the  National 
Training  School  in  New  York  for  preparation  to  do  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
work. 

One  other  contribution  which  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  able  to  make 
in  Vladivostok  was  in  helping  the  Army  to  care  for  the  wives  of 
American  soldiers  who  had  been  married  since  coming  to  Siberia. 
Brides  are  always  a  problem  in  a  military  situation.  In  Vladi- 
vostok they  were  housed  in  barracks  at  the  end  of  the  bay  not 
far  from  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Hostess  House.  It  was  natural,  there- 
fore, to  have  the  brides  cared  for  at  the  Hostess  House.  Meals 
were  served  them  there.  And  all  the  numerous  little  things  which 
needed  to  be  done,  the  secretaries  gladly  undertook.  In  some  cases 
they  kept  the  wedding  certificates  and  the  passports  of  the  brides. 
The  soldiers  themselves  often  asked  these  favors. 

Reports  had  it  that  there  were  1,400  marriages  of  American 
men  to  Russian  girls.  Although  this  was  grossly  exaggerated,  it 
showed  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Siberia.  There  were  cases  of 
girls  married  to  two  men  at  the  same  time:  There  were  cases  of 
girls  with  no  wedding  certificates.  There  were  some  brides  with 
several  children  who  preferred  keeping  house  in  a  box  car  to  living 
in  barracks.  The  problem  of  dealing  with  brides  was  more  dififi- 
cult  for  the  Army  in  this  remote  corner  of  the  world  than  in 
France  and  many  were  the  situations  which  added  entanglements 
and  made  the  work  more  difficult.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  helped  where 
they  could  and  won  the  gratitude  of  the  A.  E.  F.  in  Siberia. 
Seventy-five  wives  of  American  soldiers  were  actually  in  Vladi- 
vostok. There  was  a  move  on  the  part  of  the  Army  to  send  them 
to  Manila.  After  thirty-two  had  sailed,  no  more  could  be  sent. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  when  forced  to  evacuate  on  account  of  military 
conditions,  regretted  exceedingly  having  to  leave  a  few  brides 
still  in  Vladivostok. 

Early  in  1920  the  military  situation  caused  by  the  revolution 
was  such  that  the  American  Army  ordered  all  American  women 
out  of  Vladivostok.  The  work  done  in  Siberia  had  made  its  con- 
tribution, however.  Hundreds  of  American  soldiers,  quartered  in 
that  corner  of  the  world,  are  grateful  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  com- 
ing to  Vladivostok  and   for  paying  occasional   visits  "down   the 

100 


line"  where  the  boys  were  quartered  in  out  of  the  way  places. 
Moreover,  500  girls  who  had  been  enrolled  in  classes  in  Vladivos- 
tok, Russian,  Jewish,  Polish  and  other  nationalities,  were  glad  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  come,  and  put  fresh  vigor  into  their  lives.  The 
work  for  the  brides  and  the  Russian  refugee  children  had  also 
brought  its  reward  in  grateful  reception.  To  the  secretaries 
themselves  who  went  to  Siberia,  the  year  1919-1920  will  be  re- 
membered as  one  of  the  great  years  of  their  life,  great  in  sacrifice 
but  also  great  in  service. 


lOI 


f>^i9i^^'^^^^'' 


Italy 


ITALY,  always  as  full  of  picturesque  diversity  as  of  variegated 
charm,  presented  variety  in  her  war  needs.  While  only  a 
small  part  of  the  actual  territory  of  Italy  was  fought  over,  yet 
the  great  expanse  of  her  coast,  the  strategic  position  of  her  port 
cities  as  well  as  the  natural  war-seething  of  her  entire  population, 
brought  the  war  crisis  to  Italy  in  a  peculiar  way. 

The  restlessness  of  the  people,  whole  families  leaving  the  coun- 
try places  and  migrating  to  the  cities,  the  consequent  congestion 
of  population  in  the  cities,  at  a  time  when  the  natural  inflow  of 
refugees  had  already  crowded  them;  the  peculiar  situation  which 
brought  into  the  port  cities  returning  emigrant  families,  the 
women  and  children  stranded  until  they  could  find  a  place  to  live 
after  long  absence,  and  outgoing  emigrants,  awaiting  sailings  for 
distant  lands  free  from  war  perils;  the  new  war  industries,  which 
gathered  up  workers  by  the  thousands  and  concentrated  them  in 
camps  and  factories — all  of  these  things  produced  a  situation  in 
which  women  and  girls,  always  the  sensitive  element  in  society, 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  social  strain. 

The  position  of  women  in  Italy  has  always  been  a  conservative 
one.  In  Naples  and  the  South,  the  complex  populations  mingling 
Normans,  Arabs,  Negroes,  Moors,  Spaniards  and  French,  fit  sub- 
jects of  years  of  terrorized  exploitation,  superstition,  even  vices, 
tend  toward  orientalization  in  these  same  vices  and  therefore  in 
the  condition  of  women.  Women  are  regarded  as  inferior.  A 
beclusion  almost  equal  to  that  prevailing  in  Mohammedan  coun- 
tries has  been  the  rule.  Eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  women  of 
Calabria  are  said  to  be  illiterate.  In  the  upper  classes,  the  suspi- 
ciously jealous  guarding  of  women  narrows  them  to  the  interests 
of  their  own  household,  and  in  the  lower  classes,  a  worse  condi- 
tion shunts  them  to  the  side  lines  of  drudgery  or  immorality.  These 
are  the  people  found  huddled  in  groups  at  the  steamship  offices 
by  day,  and  quartered  in  damp  clammy  cellars  by  night  awaiting 
the  chance  to  emigrate  to  America. 

The  north  had  always  viewed  women  with  more  liberality. 
The  natural  softness  of  Italian  climate  and  topography  had  built 
into  Italian  womanhood,  the  subtleties  of  its  charm  which  made 
her  more  reticent  in  initiative  and  less  vigorous  in  leadership,  con- 

102 


^-1 


I.. 


►GKNO^ 


•f_lqren:ce 


*Ii01tB 


>r    ^ 


"^i?l 


Ar 


S^-^ 


CENTERS  IN  ITALY 
103 


scious  of  a  differentiation  due  to  her  sex.     A  wide  distinction  in 
classes  is  inevitable. 

The  war  in  Italy,  as  in  every  other  European  country,  has 
forced  women  into  the  arena  industrially,  economically,  politi- 
cally. This  has  brought  new  liberties  and  therefore,  new  tempta- 
tions. In  the  midst  of  the  crisis,  wages  were  inflated  to  the  di- 
mensions of  war  prices.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  the  sudden  drop 
in  wages,  the  closing  of  many  factories  making  war  materials,  but 
the  continued  high  prices,  meant  economic  readjustment  for  hun- 
dreds of  girls.  Readjustment  periods  are  always  times  of  diffi- 
culty. Many  of  these  girls  needed  as  never  before  in  their  lives 
a  big  hearted,  impartial,  sane  minded,  friend  and  advisor  to  whom 
they  could  turn  in  their  hour  of  crisis. 

The  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani,  for  twenty-five  years  the 
national  organization  working  under  the  World's  Committee  of 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  realized  the  situation  and  out  of  its  long  expe- 
rience of  serving  girls,  prepared  to  meet  it.  Eager  not  to  fail  the 
girls  of  Italy,  yet  somewhat  restricted  by  war  conditions,  its  lead- 
ers felt  in  the  present  crisis  the  need  of  outside  help. 

The  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  already  at  work  in  France  meet- 
ing war  situations  not  only  for  American  women  but  for  French 
girls  as  well.  In  June,  1918,  a  request  was  made  that  the  Ameri- 
can Y.  W.  C.  A.  come  to  Italy  also.  This  request  was  repeated 
in  a  number  of  forms  and  for  independent  reasons.  In  the  first 
place,  the  American  women  war  workers  needed  the  same  friend- 
ly hospitality  in  Italy  as  had  been  so  gratefully  received  in  France. 
This  was  evidently  the  province  of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
In  the  second  place,  the  girls  of  Italy  engaged  in  specific  war  indus- 
tries or  greatly  affected  by  specific  war  conditions,  needed  the 
particular  contribution  in  fresh  personalities  and  adequate  equip- 
ment which  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  through  its  war  work 
program,  was  prepared  to  make.  The  Unione  Christiana  Delle 
Giovani  finding  itself  hampered  by  war  conditions  even  in  carry- 
ing on  its  pre-war  activities,  cordially  urged  the  American  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  to  undertake  this  work.  In  the  third  place,  the  request  came 
through  personal  invitations  and  information  sent  both  to  the 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France  and  to  the  War  Work  Council 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  New  York.  Miss  Charlotte  T.  Niven,  an 
American  who  had  spent  many  years  in  Italy  in  the  service  of 
the  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani,  went  to  France  as  a  special 
messenger  to  set  before  the  representatives  of  the  American  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  there,  the  needs  in  Italy.  The  work  proposed  by  her  in  Oc- 
tober, 1918,  was  as  follows: 

1.  For  American  women  in  Italy: 

(a)  A  club  in  Rome  with  full  time  secretary, 
i  (b)  A  Nurses'  Club  at  American  Base  Hospital. 

\  (c)  A  Hostess  House  at  Genoa  to  become  after  the  war  a 

hostel  and  center  for  general  work. 
',_  (d)  A   Hostess    House   at   Naples   with    same   program   as 

Genoa. 

104 


2.  For  Italian  women  munition  workers: 

(a)   Foyers  in  munition  centers. 

3.  For  the  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani: 

(a)  One  organized  center  (possibly  Genoa)  with  two 
American  secretaries  (physical  and  recreational)  to 
serve  as  a  training  center ;  also  a  Hostess  House  to  be 
used  later  for  girls  employed  and  for  transients. 

(b)  Similar  work  for  Naples. 

(c)  Financial  support  for  new  Italian  secretary  (3-5  years). 

(d)  Financial  help  in  a  Hostel  in  Florence  (2  years). 

With  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  in  November,  some  of  these 
items  were  naturally  eliminated,  such  as  the  Nurses'  Club  at  the 
American  Base  Hospital.  Other  items,  such  as  the  proposed 
Foyers  in  munition  centers,  were  changed  in  aspect  from  military 
situations  in  need  of  intensive  work  with  industrial  units  them- 
selves, to  social  situations  in  which  hundreds  of  girls  freed  simul- 
taneously from  war  industries  and  war  restraints,  presented  anew 
a  problem  in  social  reassimilation  and  occupation.  If  war  needs 
were  more  intensive,  the  post-war  needs,  as  they  presented  them- 
selves to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  were  extensive  to  a  degree  outreaching 
precedent  or  calculation. 

After  personal  visits  to  Italy  by  members  of  the  War  Work 
Council  who  were  in  Europe  and  after  consultation  with  the 
World's  Committee  in  London,  a  small  staff  was  sent  early  in  1919 
to  open  a  hostel  for  students,  and  club  rooms  for  American  wom- 
en war  workers. 

In  Rome  a  house  at  4  Via  Balbo  given  for  students  twelve  years 
before  by  Miss  Gould  to  the  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani,  was 
transferred  for  temporary  operation  to  the  Overseas  Committee 
of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  This  house,  the  well-known  "Casa 
Internazionale,"  the  shelter  successively  of  many  student  groups 
within  Roman  walls,  was  to  expand  its  usefulness  to  the  full  in 
these  war  days  which  were  stirring  the  life  even  of  ancient  Rome, 
inured  to  wars.  The  house  after  twelve  years  of  service  needed  a 
bit  of  renovation.  With  fresh  decorations,  bright  cretonnes, 
furniture  put  in  repair,  bathroom  fixtures  renewed  and  laundry 
facilities  added,  the  rooms  took  on  the  well-known  Hostess 
House  appearance,  cheerful  and  busy,  and  became  the  meeting 
ground  of  a  variety  of  organizations  and  of  nations. 

The  Hostel  opened  as  an  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  center  October 
6,  1919.  Twenty-four  were  at  dinner  the  first  night;  there  were 
eight  students,  five  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries,  ten  women  for  rooms 
and  the  housekeeper.  By  nationalities  there  were  two  Bulgarians, 
four  British,  three  French,  three  Americans,  twelve  Italians. 
Thirty  students  became  permanent  residents.  Six  to  eight  beds 
were  kept  for  transients.  For  lack  of  rooms  100  girls  who  applied 
had  to  be  turned  away.     It  was  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  to 

105 


tiave  ten  nationalities  represented  at  dinner.     To  sit  together  at 
table  is  to  take  the  emphasis  off  differences. 

A  secretary  describes  one  evening  when  eight  nationalities  hap- 
pened in  at  the  Hostel:  "After  dinner  I  saw  an  Italian  mother 
and  two  daughters,  who  were  leaving,  say  goodbye  to  a  young 
Bulgarian  girl.  The  girl  had  brought  down  a  picture  of  her 
father  to  show,  a  Bulgarian  general  killed  in  the  war.  The  Italian 
woman  opened  a  locket  and  showed  a  picture  of  her  son  killed  in 
the  war.  Tears  streamed  down  the  faces  of  both.  Then  the  two 
women  of  enemy  nations  put  their  arms  around  each  other  and 
kissed.  Tt  is  sad,'  said  the  Italian,  'but  you  will  be  safe  here. 
This  is  a  beautiful  home.' " 

In  Florence  a  recreation  center  was  asked  for,  where  girls  de- 
mobilized from  war  industries  might  have  a  little  relief  from  the 
social  unrest  of  a  situation  complicated  by  the  presence  of  a  large 
Italian  garrison.  The  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani  had  a 
small  hostel  in  Florence.  A  larger  place  was  needed.  It  was 
thought  that  a  joint  British-American  center  could  be  made  self- 
supporting,  since  many  British  and  American  girls,  released  from 
war  services  at  home,  expected  to  take  up  special  studies  in  Flor- 
ence with  a  view  to  earning  a  livelihood.  The  replacing  of  the 
former  German  teachers,  often  in  the  pay  of  the  German  govern- 
ment, was  a  trend  to  be  encouraged  for  the  good  of  Italy. 

Housing  conditions  which  in  all  Italy  were  the  same,  owing 
not  only  to  congestion  of  population,  but  to  the  law  by  which  build- 
ing had  been  forbidden  for  the  past  five  years,  made  the  process 
of  finding  facilities  for  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  long  and  difficult.  But 
diligent  search  was  rewarded  by  some  splendid  locations. 

In  Florence  a  fine  historic  old  palace  was  secured  for  the  Amer- 
ican Y.  W.  C.  A.  hostel,  the  Palazzo  Dufour  Berte  in  the  Piazzo 
San  Spirito.  Many  girls  of  many  nationalities  have  been  cared  for 
in  many  styles  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  but  never  in  a  grander  setting 
than  this.  The  magnificent  reception  room  in  which  eighty  people 
were  lost  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  the  myriad  corridors  in 
mediaeval  Tuscan  style,  off  which  opened  twenty-two  rooms  on 
one  floor,  echoed  no  longer  to  the  stately  tread  of  royal  autocracy, 
but  to  the  merry  laughter  of  aspiring  democracy.  It  symbolized 
the  meeting  of  old  and  new  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  old  which 
from  pioneer  days  had  crept  along  the  expanding-  way  toward  full- 
fledged  opportunity — the  new,  abreast  of  modern  need,  with  small 
houses  as  well  as  small  ideals  out-grown.  Not  every  branch  of 
the  Association  can  be  housed  in  a  palace,  but  all  the  thought 
given  to  Association  plans  and  policies  is  palatial  in  its  scope.  To 
make  rich  the  lives  of  girls,  in  whatever  specific  need  met,  is  to 
ennoble  while  it  provides. 

In  the  opening  of  the  house  in  Florence,  the!  girls  of  the  old 
hostel  were  asked  to  be  the  hostesses :  "to  share  what  they  had  en- 
joyed in  the  past  with  the  many  girls  in  Florence  who  would  come 
to   them   and   needed   what   they   had   to   give."     With    excellent 

zo6 


cuisine,  under  the  management  of  an  Italian  directrice,  the  first 
month  found  food  and  service  expense  met,  the  winter's  supply 
of  wood  bought,  the  house  full  and  the  girls  happy. 

For  the  summer  of  1919  "Villa  Pesenti"  in  the  Tuscan  hills 
near  Florence  had  been  taken  for  a  girls'  camp.  Back  from  war 
years  to  normal  days,  from  crowded  city  existence  to  the  spacious 
country  life — and  the  reconstruction  would  progress  the  more  rap- 
idly. Between  seventy  and  eighty  girls  went  out  to  "Casa  Estiva" 
in  the  summer  of  1919.  The  first  group  to  arrive  had  hardly  set- 
tled before  there  came  an  earthquake  on  June  29th.  But  nothing 
daunted  (one  must  become  used  to  earthquakes  in  Italy)  they 
moved  out  into  the  driveway  and  spent  at  least  one  night  in  the 
open.  Nineteen  cracks  in  the  walls  of  the  house,  the  earthquake's 
souvenir  to  the  camp,  made  something  to  talk  about  and  one 
more  sight  to  show  visitors.  Nevertheless  the  happy  life  went  on 
with  the  usual  camp  activities,  few  rules,  much  confidence  and  a 
freedom  that  brought  laughter  and  song.  It  was  good  to  see  the 
color  come  into  the  pale  cheeks  of  some  little  sewing  girls  who 
had  not  had  a  country  vacation  since  1914.  A  secretary  describes 
the  activities :  "The  girls  gave  two  comedies  which  were  splen- 
did. We  had  then  our  largest  number  of  visitors,  peasants  com- 
ing from  every  direction.  The  talent  will  be  of  great  help  in  form- 
ing a  dramatic  club  for  the  coming  winter  in  Florence.  Too  much 
cannot  be  said  of  the  spirit  of  the  girls,  their  courtesy,  not  only  to 
us  but  to  each  other  and  they  seemed  bubbling  over  with  the  de- 
>:ire  to  be  always  doing  something  for  somebody.  The  days  have 
literally  been  golden,  with  only  two  days  of  rain.  We  were  for- 
tunate in  having  all  our  days  out  of  doors.  A  victrola  loaned  by 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  amused  many  peasant  visitors  who  asked,  Ts  he 
singing  in  the  box?'  Recovering  from  their  astonishment  they 
would  join  in." 

Cilnder  the  blue  of  Italian  skies  the  Blue  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Tri- 
angle was  finding  itself  matched  against  three  sided  needs  of 
girls  who  physically  were  tired  and  wanted  building  up,  mentally 
were  in  a  war  rut  of  abnormal  thinking,  and  spiritually  were  "run- 
down" and  needed  the  toning  up  that  would  come  from  a  body 
rebuilt  and-a^mind  renewed.  Thus  the  Triangle  was  at  work  in 
the  normal  wayV     i 

The  hostel  in  Florence  had  thirty-six  girls  as  residents  by  the 
middle  of  winter,  1920,  and  many  more  who  came  and  went  using 
the  Palace  as  a  club  center.  In  the  old  Italian  Y.  W.  C  .A.  rooms 
at  11  Lung  Arno  Giucciordini,  a  tea  room  was  opened  to  serve  the 
needs  of  many  lonely  English-speaking  women  in  Florence.  Gov- 
ernesses, artists  and  women  living  in  uncomfortable  pensions — 
literally  homeless  people — filled  the  big  room  every  afternoon  and 
enjoyed  the  open  fire,  as  they  rested  in  the  easy  chairs  under  the 
soft  shaded  lights.  There  were  now  three  centers  in  Florence: 
the  hostel  which  was  a  student  center,  the  sunjmer  camp,  and 
the  tea  room. 

It  had  seemed  advisable  to  open  headquarters  for  the  Italian 

IQ7 


work  of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  at  Genoa,  a  city  easily  accessi- 
ble in  transcontinental  travel  and  likely  to  be  a  center  for  Ameri- 
cans. Genoa,  always  a  problem  to  the  woman  traveling  alone,  be- 
cause of  a  lack  of  pension  or  moderate  respectable  hotels,  needed 
some  provision  for  American  women  war  workers.  In  addition  to 
this,  club  work  for  Italian  girls  was  asked  for.  After  some  delay 
a  location  was  found :  two  floors  of  a  large  handsome  house  in  a 
central  square  of  the  city.  Here  were  beds  for  twenty-five  wom- 
en, a  large  room  for  clubs  and  classes  and  a  delightful  restaurant 
with  a  glass  verandah  where  the  sun  could  pour  in.  From  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  women  of  four  nationalities  interested  themselves  in 
the  new  venture,  and  by  November  first  all  the  available  bedrooms 
were  taken,  most  of  the  buildings  put  in  order  and  the  restaurant 
ready  to  be  opened  within  a  few  days.  The  house  exemplified  its 
usefulness  as  a  meeting  place  for  many  groups  by  the  number  of 
events  scheduled  weekly.  The  tea  room,  open  from  4  to  6,  was 
popular  with  both  men  and  women.  The  Foyer  met  a  need  ex- 
pressed by  many  girls :  *'We  are  so  glad  to  have  a  place  to  come 
to.  There  never  has  been  a  place  in  Genoa  where  we  girls  could 
go.    We  feel  as  if  this  were  our  home." 

Classes  in  English  were  started  and  also  a  class  in  recreational 
work  for  a  group  of  girls  willing  to  volunteer  as  assistants.  A 
number  of  young  students  from  the  Technical  Institute  across  the 
street  began  coming  in  for  lunch  and  to  study  between  classes. 
This  paved  the  way  for  some  student  teas,  to  the  first  of  which 
about  thirty-five  students  and  teachers  came.  On  November  22nd 
the  girls  of  the  Italian  Unione  were  invited  to  tea  and  accepted 
unanimously.  Games  were  played  with  great  enthusiasm.  On 
Thanksgiving  'Day  there  was  a  tea  for  all  the  Americans  in  Genoa, 
to  which  about  forty  came,  glad  to  know  more  about  this  particu- 
lar work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  its  reason  for  being  in  Italy. 

The  month  of  December,  1919,  found  the  house  running  to  its 
capacity  with  an  average  of  thirty-five  for  lunch  and  from  fifteen 
to  forty  served  in  the  tea  room.  From  these  two  sources  of  in- 
come, enough  was  gained  under  the  efficient  culinary  manage- 
ment of  Signorina  Adeline  Marauda,  to  pay  all  the  running  ex- 
penses of  the  house,  including  the  hospitality  fund,  with  2,000  lira 
to  apply  on  the  rent. 

As  Christmas  approached,  the  spirit  of  the  season  pervaded  the 
house.  Although  reduced  in  number  over  the  holidays,  the  family 
of  six  (two  Italians,  one  French,  one  Norwegian  and  two  Ameri- 
cans) celebrated  with  a  Christmas  tree  and  presents,  a  little  serv- 
ice in  French  (the  language  best  understood  by  the  whole  group) 
and  an  afternoon  "at  home"  for  Americans. 

The  first  week  in  December,  1919,  a  club  room,  bright  with 
flowers,  was  opened  at  Sampierdarena  on  the  ground  floor  of  the 
Waldensian  Church  and  grew  from  a  number  of  four  to  thirty- 
eight   in    membership,    with    sixty-two    for    the    Christmas    festa. 

Another  need   in   Genoa  was   for  emigration  work.     Ten   refu- 

io8 


gee  families  -rom  Asia  Minor,  were  found  sleeping  at  the  Ques- 
tura.  The  n^pn  were  sent  out  at  five  in  the  morning  and  the 
women  at  six  vith  no  place  to  go  and  nothing  to  do  except  sit  in 
the  corridors.  They  were  given  a  little  food  by  the  municipal 
authorities  but  vere  badly  in  need  of  clothes.  The  city  seemed 
uninclined  to  hep  them  find  work,  one  difficulty  being  the  lack 
of  a  recommendaion  of  good  character.  Such  a  thing  is  not  given 
to  the  people  driven  out  of  Asia  Minor.  In  order  to  help  the 
women,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  took  four  of  them  to  sew  on  sheets,  pil- 
low cases  and  othr  plain  household  linen,  while  the  Salvation 
Army  cared  for  tie  children.  Clothing  for  the  families  was 
solicited.  ^^     v^r^ 

\      ~ —  '';  ,.  ,  ;  ■•,        -rr  r. 

I  In  Naples,  the  ne»d  for  port  work  was  greater.  Naples  had 
16»g  been  a  gateway  for  the  emigrant.  An  average  of  600  women 
and  five  times  as  many  children  always  on  hand  awaiting  sailings, 
found  great  use  for  a  combination  rest  room,  sewing  room  and 
dormitory.  Thus  the  lays  of  waiting  were  made  more  comfort- 
able;  sometimes  the  co's  in  this  Y.  W.jC.  A.  room  provided  the 
only  possible  sleeping  place  for  the  wpmei¥^  In  addition  to  giving 
food  to  the  most  needy,  stout  cloth  suitable  for  making  children's 
garments  was  provided  and  the  women  invited  to  come  and  sew, 
under  instruction,  on  some  new  outfits  for  their  children  whose 
clothes  showed  the  great  and  unrelieved  strain  of  wear.  Some  of 
them  were  taught  Englis'n  and  instructed  in  American  ways,  so 
that  they  would  be  able  more  quickly  to  feel  at  home  when  they 
reached  their  new  land.  Another  result  of  this  thoughtfulness  in 
their  behalf  wa.^  to  inspire  them  with  confidence  in  America  and 
Americans.  Inasmuch  as  about  100  families  a  week  were  touched 
in  this  way  it  may  well  be  called  a  link  inihe  chain  by  which 
the  foreign  born  are  helped  to  become  AmericansTj 


The  conservatism  of  Naples,  which  frowhed  upon  any  congre- 
gating of  girls  in  the  streets,  even  in  the  daytime,  provided  an 
opportunity  for  noonday  club  work  for  girls  from  the  big  depart- 
ment stores.  Two  large  factories  asked  for  this  work,  but  many 
difficulties  and  some  doubts  in  ^.he  minds  of  the  directors  of  the 
factories  have  been  in  the  way  ot  its  execution.  It  presents  a  pos- 
sibility for  future  work. 

In  November,  1919,  a  Foyer  was  opened.  Although  it  is  only 
a  tiny  room,  its  simple,  white  furniture  and  dainty,  fresh  hangings 
make  it  a  little  spot  so  homelike  as  to  attract.  Since  it  is  near  the 
University,  it  has  become  a  natural  gathering  place  for  students 
who  come  for  t^a  and  a  social  time.  Employed  girls  come  too,  as 
well  as  older  members  of  the  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani. 
A  Sunday  afternoon  gathering  is  a  time  for  music  and  some  kind 
of  program  as  well.  Christmas  was  duly  celebrated  at  the  Foyer, 
which  was  the  natural  place  to  turn  if  one  happened  to  be  alone 
in  Naples.  There  was  a  party  for  students  and  another  for  140 
children   of  waiting  emigrants. 

The  situation  in  Trieste  is  that  of  "occupied  territory."   Trieste, 

109 


being  new  to  Italy,  is  still  in  a  state  of  social  instab/ity.  Such  a 
state  always  means  neglect  of  girls.  Many  girls  sp^ak  only  Ger- 
man. They  work  in  shops  and  stores  and  have  ma^  of  the  stolid 
characteristics  of  the  Germans.  The  schools  forr/erly  taught  by 
Germans  now  have  Italian  teachers.  A  Foyer  Jas  been  opened 
for  them  to  help  them,  in  what  must  be  new  /nd  strange  sur- 
roundings, with  tasks  which  are  not  conducive  t/home  feelings. 

A  Foyer  for  working  girls  was  run  by  two  gfls  who  had  taken 
training  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Emergency  Traini/g  School  in  Paris. 
One  of  them  had  gone  to  Paris  ''merely  for  th/lark  of  it"  and  be- 
come genuinely  interested  in  the  great  moverrcnt  which  prompted 
that  school  and  made  necessary  some  sucly  plan  for  providing 
leaders.  ' 

S^  The  position  of  Trieste  makes  it  a  place  :or  transients.  Many 
vR^d  Cross  workers  pass  through  to  the  Bilkan  countries.  And 
the  town  affords  no  accommodations  for  those  who  must  wait 
for  train  or  steamer.  A  Y.  W.  C.  A.  hostel  was  necessaryj  The 
Simplon  Express  from  Paris  arrives  afte^  midnight.  f&eTore  the 
hostel  was  opened,  seven  girls  were  conpelled  to  spend  a  night 
in  the  stationT^Another  group  of  nine  fron  Serbia  had  to  go  to  the 
Italian  Military  authorities  to  have  voons  requisitioned.  Fifteen 
British  workers  who  had  missed  their  steamer  connection,  were 
found  huddled  in  the  station  by  a  Y.  \A.  C.  A.  secretary  and  pro- 
vided for. 

Spezia  is  another  strategic  point  br  girls.  From  being  the 
quiet  little  village  which  Shelly  loved  :or  its  proximity  to  the  blue 
waters,  and  where  he  lost  his  life  in  those  same  blue  waters,  it 
has  grown  to  be  a  town  of  90,000.  ft  is  the  chief  naval  base  of 
Italy,  the  population  having  doubled  in  the  war,  due  not  only 
to  the  navy  personnel  but  to  the  munition  factories  in  the  suburbs. 
Hundreds  of  girls  w^re  thrown  out  of  employment  when  these 
factories  closed.  'C^fheir  high  waa:es  had  been  spent  on  high- 
heeled  shoes  and  siTC  stockings  in  which  they  now  paraded  the 
streets,  subject  to  the  social  and  moral  influence  oi  a  port  city. 
To  the  skeptical  it  seemed  a  situation  impossible  to  cope  with — 
what  form  of  amusement  could  liopgto  distract  girls  from  so  ex- 
citing a  game  as  pursuing  sailor  boysp  To  the  Blue  Triangle  the 
situation  was  merely  a  challenge  to  be  taken  up.  Girls  are  the 
same  the  world  over.  A  real  interest  in  their  welfare  can  bring 
a  very  genuine  response.  In  Spezia  a  portable  hut  was  bought 
from  the  British  Church  Armj.  This  furnished  a  meeting  place. 
The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  cooperated  in  some  joint  parties.  At  least  there 
was  provided  an  alternative  to  the  streets,  a  safeguard  against 
danger. 

In  Milan  the  Unione  Christiana  Delle  Giovani  who  had  a  hostel 
for  students  and  working  girls,  accommodating  about  twenty-five, 
after  careful  consideration,  turned  this  over  to  the  American 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  temporary  operation.  On  October  1st  the  home, 
which  had  been  freshened  by  new  paper  and  enlarged  by  emer- 
gency cots,  was  opened  with  every  room  taken  and  the  door  bell 

no 


proclaiming  new  applicants.  From  four  to  six  a  day  were  turned 
away,  sometimes  more,  and  many  nights  found  'the  corridors 
filled  with  cots.  The  home  feeling  about  the  place  was  the  main 
attraction  but  there  were  also  classes  in  English,  a  chorus,  a  gym- 
nasium class  and  Sunday  afternoon  teas. 

A  noon  hour  Foyer  has  been  opened  for  500  girls  in  a  button 
factory.  Most  of  the  space  is  used  as  a  lunch  room,  where  200 
women  (between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  sixty)  file  past  the  soup 
counter  and  then  sit  at  the  twelve  long  tables  freshened  with 
green  things  to  enjoy  a  noon  lunch  hour  in  a  great  room  flooded 
with  sunshine  and  high  enough  above  the  "buttons"  to 
breathe  in  fresh  air  and  inspiration.  Besides  the  dififerences  in 
ages,  there  are  great  dififerences  in  the  personal  appearance  of 
these  girls.  Some  of  them  are  a  type  new  to  Italy,  a  product  of 
the  war,  "terribly  brazen,  showing  the  effect  of  the  cinema  in  a 
sort  of  imitation  of  cowboy  clothes  and  manner."  After  the  lunch- 
eon, there  is  the  piano  at  the  end  of  the  long  room,  or  if  they  pre- 
fer, a  table,  for  letter  writing.  There  is  even  a  carefully  screened 
bed  for  a  few  moments'  relaxation. 

Milan  presented  an  interesting  problem.  A  new  center  had  to 
be  opened  and  here  there  was  a  restaurant  just  off  the  principal 
street  in  the  business  section,  and  not  five  minutes  from  the 
Cathedral.    This  was  the  first  women's  restaurant  in  Italy. 

Nowhere  was  the  Blue  Triangle  and  all  it  stood  for  received 
more  cordially  than  in  Palermo.  Palermo  welcomed  the  idea  of 
a  student  hostel — a  bright  attractive  place  where  students  might 
freely  gather,  live  and  feel  at  home.  The  city  was  eager  to  help, 
from  the  Waldensian  minister  and  his  wife  who  entertained  the 
secretary  while  she  was  superintending  the  refurnishing  of  a 
building  for  the  hostel,  to  the  General  of  all  the  forces  in  Sicily 
who  offered  personal  aid  in  facilitating  travel.  The  building 
secured — the  only  thing  to  be  had  in  Palermo — was  in  condition 
to  cause  despair  at  first  sight.  Two  top  rooms  roofless,  kitchen 
and  dining  room  knee  deep  in  plaster  from  the  old  ceilings,  win- 
dows broken — with  strikes  the  order  of  the  day  and  stocks  in  all 
shops  greatly  reduced — any  sort  of  repair  and  refurnishing  was 
difficult.  But  difficulties  are  never  insurmountable  where  the 
Blue  Triangle  is  concerned.  Patience  and  perseverance  accom- 
plished the  transformation.  By  the  first  of  January,  1920.  there 
began  to  emerge  a  renewed  house  clean  with  paint,  full  of  air  and 
light,  surrounded  by  garden  and  terrace.  Without  waiting  for 
the  completion  of  all  details,  the  house  extended  its  welcome  in 
anticipation  of  the  day  when  it  would  open  its  doors  formally  as 
"La  Casa  Internazionale"  and  invite  students,  professors  and 
other  professional  women  obliged  to  live  far  from  their  families, 
to  make  it  their  home.  The  response  was  as  whole  hearted  as  it 
had  Been  in  Rome,  Florence,  Genoa,  Naples,  Trieste  and  Milan. 

In  Turin  a  house  was  bought  for  a  student  hostel  and  teadhers* 
preparatory  school,  and  in  the  district  of  the  chcfcolate  factories, 
near  office  centers,  a  Foyer  was  opened  on  March  11,  1920.     The 

III 


Foyer  consisted  of  an  apartment  furnished  in  lovely  colors  with 
simplicity  of  style,  surrounded  by  a  garden  and  open  air  tea  room. 
There  was  room  for  twelve  girls  to  live  here.  In  these  two  cen- 
ters in  Turin,  the  student  hostel  and  the  Foyer,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
was  prepared  to  serve  two  specific  groups  of  girls:  the  students 
living  away  from  their  families  and  in  need  of  home  life,  and  the 
girls  from  the  factory  who  needed  noon  hour  recreation. 

Turin  had  been  the  headquarters  of  the  Italian  organization 
under  the  World's  Committee.  In  the  heart  of  the  Waldensian 
valley,  eager-hearted  people  had  long  realized  the  importance  of 
this  work  for  girls;  and  Turin,  industrial,  socialistic,  moral  and 
progressive,  had  become  the  natural  center  for  the  Unione  Chri- 
tiana  Delle  Giovani.  The  fall  of  1919  found  the  national  organ- 
ization celebrating  its  twenty-fifth  anniversary  by  a  conference  in 
Turin  with  essential  aims  unchanged,  but  a  more  modern  ap- 
proach made  necessary  by  different  conditions. 

The  girls  of  Italy  were  different.  To  quote  from  the  report  of 
a  secretary:  "The  girls  of  Italy  are  going  through  a  difficult 
period  of  adjustment  to  new  conditions,  new  liberties,  new  temp- 
tations. The  inflated  war  wages  have  dropped,  but  war  prices  are 
unchanged,  creating  an  economic  problem  too  difficult  for  many 
girls  to  solve  honestly.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  urgently  needed.  If 
we  do  not  do  our  share  in  pointing  the  young  working  women  of 
Italy  to  sane  and  Christian  ideals,  and  away  from  class  hatred  or 
the  attractions  of  luxury  and  vice,  we  shall  be  failing  in  our 
duty." 

The  natural  conservatism,  coupled  in  many  instances  with  an- 
tagonism to  anything  new,  is  another  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a 
sane,  free  life  for  girls.  What  was  the  use  of  providing  physical 
education  and  recreation  ?  Girls  had  always  grown  up  to  get 
married.  At  the  age  of  twelve  the  customary  beginning  was  made 
on  the  "corredo"  (trousseau)  of  the  necessary  100  pieces.  Young 
apprentices,  novices  in  the  trades  of  dressmaking  and  millinery, 
became  members  of  a  Corredo  Class  and  by  dint  of  labor  and  the 
payment  of  a  small  weekly  fee,  a  respectable  trousseau  was  ready 
at  the  end  of  nine  years  to  be  taken  away  finished.  Or,  if  the 
happy  day  came  sooner,  they  could  take  what  was  finished. 

Thus  passed  away  the  youth  of  Italy's  girlhood.  At  the  age 
when  American  children  would  be  reveling  in  games,  these  young 
Italian  girls  were  taking  up  the  burdens  of  adult  life.  The  ques- 
tion is  sometimes  asked,  ''What  does  the  ItaUan  girl  play?"  The 
answer  is,  "She  doesn't  play.  She  thinks  only  of  getting  mar- 
ried." "But  if  she  doesn't  marry?"  "Well,  she  is  just  an  old 
maid.  That's  all!" 

"The  thing  about  you  Americans  which  amazes  me,"  said  one 
Italian  woman,  "is  that  you  are  all  so  young.  Here  in  Italy  we 
wouldn't  expect  women  to  do  the  kind  of  work  you  are  doing  un- 
less they  were  older!" 

"Maybe  we  are  not  so  young  as  we  look,"  came  the  answer. 

112 


"Well,  it  must  be  because  you  always  seem  to  be  enjoying  your 
work  so  much.    It  is  just  like  a  game  to  you,  isn't  it?" 

Programs  of  physical  education  in  Italy  had  always  been  limit- 
ed to  a  few  minutes  of  calisthenics  once  or  twice  a  week  or  to  pri- 
vate gymnasium  schools,  splendidly  equipped,  to  which  the 
wealthy  could  send  their  children.  For  the  masses  there  was 
nothing.  That  they  would  respond  to  organized  play  was  demon- 
strated in  Florence  where  every  evening  before  dinner  a  play  hour 
was  conducted  by  an  American  secretary  with  only  six  or  seven 
Italian  words  but  plenty  of  pantomine  at  her  command.  Such 
games  as  Dodge  Ball,  Touch  Ball,  Center  Ball,  Three  Deep, 
Whirlwind,  and  many  others  popular  in  America,  met  with  so 
great  a  response  that  she  finally  asked :  "But  have  you  never 
played  any  of  these  games  or  danced  any  of  these  dances  before?" 
"Never,  never,"  they  said.  Then  up  spoke  a  little  lass  with  the 
face  of  a  Del  Sarto  Madonna,  who  had  been  sent  to  Florence  be- 
cause of  the  political  disturbance  of  her  native  town :  "Never 
have  we  played  these  games  in  Fiume,  but  now  when  I  go  home 
I  shall  teach  them  to  all  my  friends."  At  that  there  was  a  torrent 
of  words  from  all  the  girls,  unintelligible  to  the  secretary  but  from 
which  she  understood  that  wonderful  things  were  going  to  hap- 
pen when  they  went  home  in  the  summer. 

This  class  in  Florence  was  typical  of  what  might  be  done  with 
physical  education  in  Italy.  With  such  interests  the  class  grew 
that  on  Thanksgiving  Day  a  demonstration  was  given  to  the 
Italian,  English  and  American  friends  of  the  Association  in  Flor- 
ence who  gathered  to  inspect  the  Foyer  and  have  tea.  It  was  a 
demonstration  in  true  American  style — bloomers,  middies  and  all. 
The  one  class  soon  expanded  to  three  with  enrollment  increasing 
every  week.  Special  emphasis  was  placed  on  developing  recreation 
and  correcting  posture.  The  work  was  supplemented  by  a  class 
in  First  Aid  and  Home  Nursing. 

Such  classes  as  these  serve  to  demonstrate  the  usefulness  of  at- 
tention to  the  physical  well  being  of  women  who  work  in  Italy. 
Other  prejudices  must  just  as  surely  pass.  The  conservatism  of 
public  opinion  where  women  are  concerned  is  illustrated  by  num- 
erous incidents  related  by  secretaries.  In  Milan,  the  search  for 
a  location  for  the  restaurant  was  met  by  these  questions :  "How 
many  girls  will  come  to  eat?  Will  there  be  more  than  fifteen 
girls?  Will  you  know  each  one  of  them?  Are  they  responsible 
girls?  The  portress  will  not  like  so  many  strange  people  coming 
into  the  building.  Why  should  so  many  girls  wish  to  come  to- 
gether?" In  Turin  a  locale  was  refused  by  a  man  who  said  he  did 
not  believe  in  girls  meeting  for  any  purpose,  that  they  should  be 
in  their  homes  at  all  times.  A  cultured  South  Italian  said  to  an 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary:  "Senorita,  did  you  know  that 
our  people  worship  the  Madonna  because  they  despise  woman? 
They  could  not  give  her  any  suitable  place  in  their  respect  unless 
they  deified  her."  Yet  in  spite  of  these  prejudices,  the  work  for 
the  girls  of  Italy  goes  on. 

113 


The  outstanding  features  of  the  work  in  Italy  have  been  the 
cooperation  between  the  national  Italian  organization,  the  Unione 
Christiana  Delle  Giovani,  and  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A. ;  the  ex- 
traordinary difficulties  in  the  way  of  getting  buildings  that  have 
been  met  and,  in  most  cases,  overcome;  thej  variety  of  situations 
that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  met;  illustrated  by  the  many  kinds  of 
work;  port  work,  recreation,  housing,  restaurant  and  Foyer.  Each 
city  has  presented  a  different  set  of  problems.  But  all  have  been 
ready  to  work  out  solutions  in  the  same  spirit  of  helpfulness  and 
gratitude.  One  girl  at  a  festa  at  the  'Foyer  of  Sampierdarena 
(Genoa)  expressed  this  very  aptly :  ''This  room  is  an  oasis  where 
we  can  come  to  love  and  help  each  other." 


"4 


Poland 


IT  takes  more  than  war  to  crush  the  spirit  of  Poland.  Poland  has 
become  used  to  wars,  having  borne  the  brunt  of  many  people's 
fightings,  even  to  the  extent  of  losing  her  identity  and  of  suffering 
partition  to  satisfy  the  desire  of  rapacious  warrior-nations  for  prey. 
It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that,  in  1914,  the  Great  War  found  her 
in  its  path.  Furrowed  with  trenches,  fought  over  backwards  and 
forwards  by  ruthless  armies,  ravaged  of  life  and  the  means  of  life, 
Poland  sank  crushed  beneath  the  wheels  of  destruction,  only  to  strug- 
gle up  again  to  a  new  and  freer  existence. 

Poland  contains  a  spark  of  life  too  vital  to  be  snuffed  out.  In  spite 
of  a  century  and  a  half  of  partition,  the  soul  of  Poland  has  maintained 
its  entity  in  the  heart  of  her  people.  Their  faith  in 'her  innate  national 
qualities  has  been  her  greatest  national  asset.  Poles  everywhere, 
whether  the  politically  divided  groups  subject  to  the  dominating  rule 
of  Germany,  the  nationalizing  influence  of  Russia,  the  restive  yoke  of 
Austria,  or  the  liberty-seeking  wayfarers,  who  found  opportune  relief 
in  free  America,  held  fast  their  Polish  ideals  and  traditions  and  trans- 
mitted Polish  loyalty  down  through  the  generations.  Thus  the  fires 
of  patriotism  continued  to  glow,  if  not  on  Polish  hearths,  at  least  in 
Polish  hearts,  and  needed  but  the  wind  of  war  to  fan  the  glow  into 
a  flame.  The  free  Poland,  emerging  out  of  the  ashes  of  war,  rose  not 
only  to  new  national  consciousness,  but  to  new  national  responsibilities. 
The  people  now  facing  the  remaking  of  the  government  have  been 
artificiaUy  trained  in  outward  conformity  to  a  government  not  their 
own.'vfj^  them  loyalty  to  Poland  has  meant  disloyalty  to  government. 
The  assembling  of  masses  of  people  had  been  cause  for  secrecy 
for  fear  of  spies.  To  face  the  new  situation  required  an  "about  face'* 
in  the  process  of  thinking.  Added  to  the  political  difficulties  are  the 
economic  and  industrial  deterioration  incident  to  war,  and  the  social 
disintegration  inevitable  to  the  war  grind.  Who  can  help  Poland  now  ? 
Who  but  those  who  themselves  hav^'^'^t  the  cause  of  freedom  to  be 
the  road  toward  a  goal  of  self-reliance  r7j 

To  America  had  come  Poles  to  a  number  estimated  at  4.500,000. 
The  majority  of  these  as  unskilled  laborers  found  work  in  factories, 
slaughter  houses  and  on  farms,  rising  in  many  cases  to  farm  owners, 
while  the  second  generation  were  educated  in  parochial  schools,  learned 
English,  and  were  rapidly  Americanized.  In  the  small  minority 
were  some  of  the  most  skilled  artists  that  America  has  known,  par- 

115 


ii6 


I 


ticularly  in  music  and  drama.  In  the  hearts  of  these  Poles  resounded 
the  call  to  serve  a  resurrected  Poland.  Whether  as  premier  or  as 
nurse,  the  desire  to  be  of  use  was  paramount  in  the  minds  of  potential 
Polish  citizens.  But  what  could  the  average  person  do?  Was  this  a 
call  simply  to  extraordinary  talent  ?  What  could  the  young  women  do  ? 
An  answer  to  this  question  was  happily  found  in  a  suggestion  of 
Madame  Laura  de  G.  Turczynowicz,  who  urged  that  selected  Polish 
girls  in  America  be  trained  for  social  service  to  work  either  in  their 
own  communities  or  overseas  in  Poland,  according  to  their  ability. 
Through  the  cooperation  of  the  committee  assisting  Madame  Turczy- 
nowicz in  her  relief  work,  known  as  the  Polish  Reconstruction  Asso- 
ciation on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Overseas  Committee  and  the  Com- 
mittee on  Work  for  Foreign-Born  Women  in  America,  of  the  War 
Work  Council  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  on  the  other  hand,  a  training  course 
for  young  Polish  women  was  planned,  with  two  objects  in  view.  The 
training  would  fit  these  Polish-speaking  Americans  either  for  work 
as  nurses'  aids  with  the  Polish  army  in  France  and  later  for  recon- 
struction work  in  Poland  if  the  opportunity  came  to  go  overseas,  or. 
for  real  service  to  Polish  communities  in  American  cities  if  duty  kept 
them  in  America.  The  plan,  greeted  with  enthusiasm  by  Polish  leaders 
and  American  social  workers,  was  rapidly  put  into  execution.  Where 
could  be  found  a  better  means  of  lining  up  American  efficiency  with 
Polish  idealism? 

Recruiting  brought  three  hundred  girls  to  join  the  probation  courses 
which  were  to  serve  as  a  test  of  individual  adaptability,  perseverance 
and  devotion,  leading  to  a  scholarship  for  further  training.  These 
probation  courses,  made  possible  by  the  cooperation  of  Polish  and 
American  physicians,  were  given  in  Cleveland.  Trenton,  Rochester, 
Milwaukee,  Detroit,  St.  Louis  and  Pittsburgh,  all  cities  of  large  Polish 
population.  Of  the  three  hundred  who  entered  the  training,  two  hun- 
dred went  back  to  work  in  American  cities,  forming  Polish  Grey  Sa- 
maritan Leagues  in  some  cities,  ninety  qualified  for  scholarships.  The 
Polish  Grey  Samaritan  School  was  opened  in  October,  1918,  on  Fifty- 
third  Street,  New  York,  for  the  intensive  course,  including  .hospital 
and  community  work.  The  students  were  grouped  according  to  lan- 
guage (English  or  Polish),  individual  needs  and  previous  training 
or  experience.    Two  separate  courses  of  study  were  given : 

Course  1.  included  Health  Education  and  Physiology,  Industrial  His- 
tory, Social  Problems,  Institutional  Visiting,  Systematized  House- 
keeping, Bookkeeping,  Cookery,  Arts  and  Crafts,  English,  Polish, 
Gymnastics. 

Course  II.  included  Lecture  Work  under  the  auspices  of  the  School 
of  Philanthropy,  Field  Work  with  the  Charity  Organization  Society, 
Child  Training  with  the  Froebel  League,  Health  Education,  Polish, 
English,  Systematized  Housekeeping,  Bookkeeping,  Cooking,  Gym- 
nastics. 

When  the  school  closed  in  June,  1919,  seventy-five  students  were 
graduated.  They  are  known  as  Polish  Grey  Samaritans.  Like  their 
fellow-students  of  the  earlier  courses  already  at  work  in  the  cities, 
they  had  come  from  the  ranks,  with  a  preparation  in  many  cases  less 

117 


than  a  high  school  education,  through  training  necessarily  brief  but 
enhanced  by  a  great  ideal,  into  positions  of  leadership  among  their 
people,  with  one  objective — to  serve. 

In  April,  1919,  the  War  Work  Council  had  appointed  a  Commis- 
sion, headed  by  Miss  Sarah  S.  Lyon,  Executive  of  the  Overseas 
Committee,  to  arrange  for  establishing  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  in 
Poland.  The  Commission  was  composed  of  Miss  Lois  Downs,  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  International  Institute  of  Pittsburgh;  Mrs.  Thyrza  Bar- 
ton Dean  of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  France,  and  Mrs.  Josef  a 
Kudlicka,  a  Polish- American  librarian  of  Buffalo.  In  Paris  they 
saw  Premier  Paderewski  and  Madame  Paderewski,  who  had  greatly 
interested  herself  in  the  enterprise,  so  that  Miss  Lyon  was  able  to  re- 
turn to  New  York  with  the  assurance  that  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans 
were  not  only  needed,  but  very  much  wanted  in  Poland,  and  that  the 
Commission  proceeding  into  Poland  would  be  facilitated  in  completing 
arrangements  for  them. 

To  make  the  journey  from  Paris  to  Warsaw  in  these  early  days  of 
June,  before  the  signing  of  peace,  was  an  affair  of  moment.  The 
departure  of  the  Orient  Express  with  its  caravan  of  baggage,  its 
momentous  diplomatic  pouches,  its  various  important  emissaries, 
equalled  in  prestige  a  steamer's  sailing  and  was  equally  attended  by 
friends  of  the  departing.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Commission  now  under 
Miss  Downs'  leadership  was  sped  on  their  journey  not  only  by  the 
smiles  and  good  wishes  of  the  Paris  representatives  of  the  Blue  Tri- 
angle, but  also  by  the  flowers  and  candy  sent  by  Madame  Paderewski. 
This  enterprise  on  which  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  backed  all  along  the  line  by 
the  Polish  Government,  was  now  embarking,  meant  one  more  thread 
in  the  inter- weaving  of  American  and  Polish  sympathy. 

The  going  of  the  Commission  was  made  possible  by  the  Polish 
Typhus  Relief  Expedition  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  and 
their  hospitable  reception  in  Poland,  prepared  by  the  forethought  of 
the  Government  authorities.  The  Commission  was  afforded  every 
fadility  for  looking  over  the  ground  and  taking  account  of  the 
needs  for  such  help  as  the  Y.  W\  C.  A  and  its  Polish  Grey  Samaritans 
could  render.  If  there  had  been  any  doubt  on  the  part  of  the  Com- 
mission of  the  ability  of  the  Y.  W,  C.  A.  to  help,  it  was  dispelled  now 
that  they  were  actually  in  Poland,  with  calls  coming  from  every  estab- 
lished agency  and  mute  but  desperate  appeals  in  the  very  bareness  of 
necessities  in  evidence  on  every  hand. 

The  situation  in  Poland  was  conditioned  not  only  by  the  devastation 
>of  thq-ifour  long,  hard  years  of  war  that  are  past,  but  also  by  the 
present  state  of  war  under  terrific  circumstances,  where  the  Polish 
army  was  holding  against  the  Bolsheviki  on  the  East,  a  front  longer 
than  the  front  the  Allies  held  in  France.  With  very  little  coal,  a 
shortage  of  clothing,  a  shortage  of  food  and  another  winter  to  be 
faced,  while  industry  remained  crippled  and  hand-tied,  it  was  a  case 
of  life  or  death  to  the  new  republic — life  if  the  country  could  be 
helped  through  another  winter  of  disease  and  hunger,  otherwise  no 
crops,  no  prospects — death! 

ii8 


It  was  thought  best  at  first  to  have  the  PoHsh  Grey  Samaritans 
speciaHze  in  one  kind  of  work  only.  Calls  were  coming  from  the 
canteens,  the  epidemic  hospitals,  the  military  hospitals,  but  the  great 
call  seemed  to  be  for  children's  work,  inasmuch  as  the  need  was  the 
greatest.  With  the  advice  of  the  American  Minister,  the  Polish 
Grey  Samaritans  were  therefore  scheduled  for  children's  work. 
Through  the  Minister  of  War,  a  house  was  commandeered  preparatory 
to  their  arrival. 

[n  the  meantime,  in  America  the  Polish-  Grey  Samaritans  were 
making  their  last  preparations  for  sailing  in  the  spirit  of  true  soldiers. 
Their  pledge  to  service  was  simple  enough :  'T  do  hereby  signify  my 
desire  to  give  one  year  of  service  to  the  cause  of  Poland  with  the 
unit  about  to  be  sent  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A."  And  yet  it  was  made 
from  their  hearts.  It  was  arranged  that  they  were  to  be  financed 
(training,  transportation,  equipment  and  maintenance)  four  and 
a  half  months  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  with  the  help  of  $10,000  from  the 
Polish  Reconstruction  Fund.  After  four  and  a  half  months  the 
Polish  Government,  through  the  Central  Children's  Committee  of  the 
American  Relief  Administration,  assumed  responsibility  for  this  chil- 
dren's welfare  project.  On  July  31,  1919,  the  first  unit  of  twenty 
Polish  Grey  Samaritans  sailed,  in  charge  of  four  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secre- 
taries as  counselors — Miss  Martha  Chickering,  Miss  Frances  West, 
Miss  Emily  Graves,  Miss  Stephanie  Kozlowska.  In  these  young  Polish- 
Americans,  as  they  set  sail  from  the  land  they  owned  as  home,  for  the 
land  they  idealized  in  story  and  song  as  the  home  of  their  ancestors, 
there  seemed  to  mingle  the  spirit  of  Kosciuszko  and  the  spirit  of  Wash- 
ington, the  thirst  to  aid  the  physically  downtrodden  in  their  supreme 
fight  for  life,  the  faith  to  believe  overwhelmingly  in  the  triumphant 
integrity  of  liberty. 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  journey  were  many,  the  difficulties  being 
multiplied  by  the  size  of  the  group.  Delays  were  the  order  of  the 
day.  A  month's  wait  in  Paris,  another  stop  in  Coblenz,  and  then 
again,  by  the  help  of  the  Polish  Typhus  Mission  and  the  American 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  caravan  moved.  Straight  across  Germany  at  the 
end  of  a  freight  train  of  fifty-four  cars  traveled  ,the  Polish  Gray 
Samaritans.  But  getting  out  of  Germany  into  Poland  was  another 
matter.  The  German  republic  had  inherited  the  German  empire's  red 
tape,  and  the  fact  that  the  Polish  border  had  been  moved  eighteen 
kilometers  east  of  what  the  schedule  called  for,  was  very  upsetting  to 
any  straightforward  plans.  Five  days  and  nights  it  took  to  settle 
the  aflfair  of  those  eighteen  kilometers — five  days  of  camping  in  Ger- 
man freight  yards,  five  nights  of  anxiety  lest  the  small  American 
guard  might  prove  inadequate  in  a  strange  country,  so  recently  a 
hostile  one.  But  over  the  border  at  last  and  into  the  land  of  their 
dreams,  the  very  fields  seemed  to  welcome  these  travelers  who  for 
love  of  Poland  had  braved  difficulty  and  danger. 

It  was  September  19,  1919,  that  the  first  unit  of  Polish  Grey  Sa- 
maritans reached  Warsaw.  The  Warsaw  of  history  in  Polish  mem- 
ory, cherished  for  loyalty  unquenchable  through  years  of  mechanical 
conformity  to  the  government  of  the  Czar,  with  treaty  interruptions 

"9 


by  the  Kaiser,  was  transformed  into  a  city  struggling  to  master  all 
the  machinery  of  government  at  once,  a  city  striving  to  be  found 
worthy  as  the  capital  of  the  new  Republic  of  Poland.  For  the  many 
years  of  restraint,  in  which  she  had  kept  herself  true,  this  was  the 
reward,  a  day  for  which  the  bravest  had  long  prepared.  The  streets 
of  Warsaw  were  a-riot  with  evidence  of  the  strangeness  of  the  new 
situation — strange  indeed  to  the  little  group,  who  had  come  from 
distant  America  to  a  Poland  known  to  many  of  them  only  through  the 
tales  of  earlier  generations,  tales  of  knightly  years  and  years  of  sup- 
pression, of  treasured  hopes  and  secret  meetings.  Were  the  dreams 
of  their  ancestors  at  last  being  fulfilled?  Was  Poland  daring  to  own 
an  army?  The  grays,  blues,  greens,  reds,  browns,  of  the  Russian, 
German,  Austrian,  French  and  American  armies  still  decked  the  men 
who  ralHed  to  the  Polish  eagle,  now  spreading  his  long-folded  wings 
to  the  sunlight  of  Liberty.  From  the  ends  of  the  earth  had  gathered 
the  sons  of  Poland — and  the  daughters.  The  twenty  Polish  Grey 
Samaritans  seemed  a  tiny  drop  in  the  great  ocean  of  need,  but  what 
they  lacked  in  numbers  they  made  up  in  adaptability,  as  they  threw 
themselves  into  the  work  of  child  welfare. 

As  far  as  children  are  concerned,  Poland  is  said  to  be  the  neediest 
country  in  the  world. today.  With  disease  in  every  form  rampant, 
with  food  scare  and  clothing  lacking,  it  is  no  wonder  that  children 
in  their  under-nourished  state  are  suffering  most.  Even  in  Warsaw, 
which  is  the  nearest  to  normal  of  any  spot  in  Poland,  there  came 
from  one  church  seventy-five  funerals  in  one  day.  It  was  impossible 
to  move  through  the  streets  without  seeing  the  corteges,  and  in  many 
of  them  the  open  wagon  which  serves  as  a  hearse  bears  a  baby  coffin. 
The  death  rate  of  children  in  Warsaw  is  said  to  have  been  25  per  cent. 

In  other  districts. the  general  death  rate  has  been  50  per  cent.  A  re- 
lief worker  was  struck  bv  the  absence  of  birds,  and  upon  inquiring 
about  it  was  told  ''We've  killed  them  to  eat  them."  When  ordinary  food 
is  not  procurable  necessity  must  resort  to  strange  measures.  One  family 
came  to  a  relief  station  to  ask  why  they  had  not  been  reached.  "We 
gave  that  family  something  six  weeks  ago,"  was  the  sad  answer. 

In  the  Department  of  the  East,  where  the  fighting  was,  conditions 
were  at  their  worst.  Relief  workers  and  government  officials  who 
visited  this  region  say  it  is  impossible  to  describe  in  writing  the  terrible 
situation.  Men,  women  and  children,  with  horses  and  cows,  if  they  were 
lucky  enough  to  have  them,  all  living  together  in  dugouts,  in  box- 
cars, in  wagons,  or  along  the  road  in  the  open  with  no  covering  from 
the  heavy  rains ;  refuge  camps  for  people  from  Eastern  Europe,  with 
a  bare  wooden  platform  for  each  family,  had  been  filled  to  over- 
flowing with  the  sick — typhus,  smallpox,  cholera,  dysentery,  tuber- 
culosis, added  to  alli  the  wounds  from  battle,  and  no  proper  facilities 
to  help  the  doctors  in  their  work,  no  anaesthetics  for  the  surgeons, 
nothing — but  unmitigated  pain.  And  through  pain  Poland  has  learned 
her  lesson  of  patience.  Partly  through  the  weakness  of  hunger  and 
sickness,  but  partly  through  the  discipline  of  want,  even  the  children 
are  acquiring  the  spirit  of  not  complaining.  Out  of  a  great  assortment 
of  them  in  all  conditions,  one  worker  counted  only  six  crying. 

120 


To  come  to  the  relief  of  the  children,  the  American  Relief  Admin- 
istration had  organized  the  Central  Children's  Committee,  which  was 
operating  under  the  Ministry  of  Public  Health  of  Poland.  It  was  to 
this  Committee  that  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  were  assigned.  As 
nurses'  aids,  they  could  help  in  hospital  and  nursery.  As  trained 
social  workers  they  could  assist  in  home  visiting,  investigation  of  cases 
and  distribution  of  food  and  clothing.  There  were  two  objects  in 
view:  1.  To  set  a  standard  for  child  welfare.  2.  To  build  up  scientific 
social  service  based  on  case  work.  In  connection  with  the  district 
visiting,  calls  were  made  on  the  families  of  soldiers  in  the  Polish  army 
to  report  acute  cases  of  distress.  The  gffey-uni formed  girls  were 
becoming  familiar  figures  in  Warsaw.  They  had  been  given  the  of- 
ficial armband  of  the  Central  Committee  and  the  right  to  wear  the 
Polish  Military  Eagle  on  their  caps,  thus  making  them  governmeni 
representatives.  The  fact  that  they  spoke  English,  even  though  witl 
an  American  accent,  put  them  ahead  of  other  workers. 

In  three  weeks  of  actual  work  the  girls  had  visited  150  cases,  had 
sequred  relief  for  about  52,  clothes  for  30,  and  had  sent  10  to  hos- 
pitals. With  a  knack  of  finding  their  way  about  and  of  holding  on 
with  true  American  perseverance  to  any  case  they  had  once  under- 
taken until  results  were  obtained,  these  Polish-American  girls  were 
fulfilling  their  mission  as  good  Samaritans  in  deed  as  well  as  in  name. 
To  cite  one  case :  A  girl  found  a  woman  who  had  fainted  on  the  stairs, 
and  took  her  home.  Learning  later  that  the  woman  had  stood  in  the 
bread-line  for  several  days  without  getting  any  bread,  and  that  the 
husband  had  been  in  prison  for  some  time,  for  what  reason  the  woman 
did  not  know,  this  young  Samaritan  went  to  the  magistrate,  inquired 
what  prison  the  man  was  in,  appeared  at  the  prison  office,  walked  past 
two  guards,  and  finding  a  "No  Admittance"  sign  but  no  door,  asked 
where  the  door  was.  The  guard  at  first  looked  surprised,  but  ans- 
wered, "You  must  ring  the  bell ;  the  door  is  around  the  corner."  She 
found  out  when  the  trial  was  to  be,  conducted  the  wife  to  the  hearing, 
and  later  was  pleased  to  know  of  the  man's  release  and  happy  return 
to  his  wife  and  his  home.  This  is  only  one  out  of  many  stories  of 
queer  complicated  cases  to  which  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  were 
constantly  giving  their  attention. 

Their  devotion  produced  an  ability  greater  than  might  be  expected 
from  their  training.  The  challenge  was  in  the  death  rate.  To  save 
the  lives  of  the  babies,  little  creatures  who  had  never  known  a  normal 
world,  but  must  suffer  for  crimes  in  which  they  had  no  part — that  was 
the  work  in  which  thePolish  Grey  Samaritans  used  every  inch  of  their 
training  and  poured  every  ounce  of  their  strength.  They  had  learned 
that  dire  consequences  may  follow  small  neglects,  and  that  prevention 
was  the  best  cure.  Nothing  was  too  small  to  be  watched.  One  girl 
who  had  been  put  in  charge  of  a  nursery  discovered  in  two  days  that 
the  milk  supply  was  diluted,  a  fact  that  had  escaped  the  notice  of 
the  graduate  nurse.  If  a  case  was  desperate,  a  Gray  Samarttan  some 
how  found  the  strength  to  stay  up  day  and  night  to  fight  for  the  life 
of  a  sick  baby.  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  in  three  weeks  the 
death  rate  in  these  nurseries  had  fallen  50  per  cent. 

In  addition  to  the  nurseries  and  hospitals,  the  Central  Children's 


121 


Committee  opened  soup  kitchens  and  milk  depots  in  Warsaw  as  food  ' 
centers  for  the  children  in  the  ten  districts  of  the  city.  One  Polish 
Grey  Samaritan  was  assigned  to  this  work  as  supervisor.  By  paying 
regular  visits  to  the  various  centers,  she  was  able  to  keep  up  a  certain 
standard  and  to  make  suggestions  for  needed  improvements.  The 
fact  that  she  represented  a  link  in  the  chain  between  the  donors  who 
gave  the  food  and  the  children  who  received  it  added  value  to  her 
position. 

Calls  were  coming  from  many  other  cities  and  towns  for  at  least 
one  Polish  Grey  Samaritan  to  come  and  help  organize  welfare  work. 
Besides  the  work  of  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans,  there  were  on  every 
hand  opportunities  for  other  service  which  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  could 
render.  The  American  Legation  in  Warsaw  urged  the  concentration 
in  Poland  of  as  much  effort  and  expenditure  during  the  coming  winter 
as  the  Association  felt  to  be  possible.  To  quote  from  a  letter:  "This 
should  be  the  pivot  of  their  activity  in  Eastern  Europe.  No  matter 
how  much  we  put  in,  Poland  is  faced  with  a  very  terrible  winter,  the 
worst  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  People  at  home  can  have  no 
conception  of  the  suffering  that  is  inevitable  in  spite  of  all  that  we 
can  do.  This  suffering  it  would  be  hard  to  exaggerate,  and  our  prob- 
lem is  merely  to  reduce  the  sum  total  of  misery  to  a  point  where  it  j 
can  be  borne  for  a  few  months  longer  by  this  pathetically  patient  peo-  ' 
pie  .  .  .  If  they  can  be  helped  through  the  next  six  months,  I 
am  confident  of  the  future." 

In  October,  Miss  Downs  cabled  for  ten  more  Polish  Grey  Samari-        ^ 
tans.     After   the   necessary   preliminaries,   these   sailed   in   December       | 
and   reached   Warsaw   in  January.     Looking   forward  to  these  rein- 
forcements, the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  could  scatter  into  more  places 
and  thus  respond  to  some  of  the  many  requests  for  them. 

Until  January  1,  1920,  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  were  distributed 
as  follows :  Four  in  creches,  one  supervising  soup  kitchen  and  milk 
depots,  one  managing  a  sewing  room,  thirteen  case  workers  under 
supervision  of  a  trained  Y.  W.  C.  A.  social  worker,  one  office  worker. 

The  four  creches  in  Warsaw  under  the  Children's  Committee  were 
like  day  nurseries,  children  being  cared  for  and  fed  for  a  small  fee,        i 
In  some  cases  three  meals  a  day,  in  other  only  the  noon  meal,  were        | 
given.     Until  January  1,  1920,  two  of  these  had  each  two  Gray  Sa- 
maritans working  as  supplementary  aides  with  the  Polish  women  in 
charge. 

The  case  workers  were  used  for  investigation  of /those  who  ap- 
plied for  help.  It  entailed  visiting  in  districts,  covering  great  distances, 
with  transportation  facilities  limited  and  dire  distress  in  evidence  on 
every  hand.  Every  phase  of  social  welfare  work  was  involved.  Rec- 
ords were  kept  in  Polish  for  the  benefit  of  the  Central  Children's 
Committee. 

The  sewing  room  had  been  organized  jointly  by  Mrs.  McBride,  of 
the  American  Red  Cross,  and  Lady  Rumble,  of  the  British  Red  Cross, 
with  the  twofold  purpose  of  furnishing  employment  for  needy  and 
worthy  women  and  of  making  clothes  for  children  up  to  ten  years  of       j 

122 


age,  out  of  material  furnished  by  the  two  societies.  The  Grey  Samari- 
tan in  charge  had  the  responsibility  of  planning  how  the  go6ds  might 
be  used  to  best  advantage  and  of  supervising  the  actual  work.  This 
required  ingenuity,  a  knowledge  of  plain  sewing,  the  ability  to  get 
best  results  from  a  group  of  women,  and  the  systematizing  of  the  work. 

The  sewing  room  was  more  than  a  place  of  employment.  It  fur- 
nished constantly  cases  for  social  work.  One  incident  illustrates  this : 
One  day  a  sewing  woman  told  the  Grey  Samaritan  about  one  of  her 
neighbors  whose  baby  had  died  several  days  before,  but  had  not  yet 
been  buried.  The  mother  was  very  ill,  there  were  two  small  children, 
no  one  to  attend  to  the  burial,  and  no  money.  The  Grey  Samaritan 
went  down  that  evening  to  the  woman's  home,  found  the  dead  baby 
lying  on  a  bureau,  where  it  had  lain  nearly  a  week,  covered  with  a 
newspaper.  The  mother  was  in  bed,  and  the  two  children  were  play- 
ing in  the  cold  room,  as  there  was  no  fire.  Immediately  the  Grey 
Samaritan  went  through  the  regular  procedure  of  registering  the 
baby's  death,  secured  a  permit  for  the  burial,  bought  the  cofifin  with 
her  own  money,  and  as  soon  as  possible  the  baby  was  decently  buried. 
This  sewing  room  was  the  only  work  still  being  carried  on  by  the 
Polish  Grey  Samaritans  in  Warsaw  after  January,  1920. 

The  arrival  of  the  new  group  of  Grey  Samaritans  from  America 
gave  opportunity  for  spreading  out  in  their  work  under  the  Ameri- 
can Relief  Administration.  Some  had  left  Warsaw  before.  Early 
in  December  six  of  them,  directed  by  Miss  Stephanie  Kozlowska,  went 
under  the  American  Relief  Administration  to  help  in  the  distribution 
of  clothing  at  Lwow  (Lemberg).  This  picturesque  city,  with  its 
musty  churches  towering  above  the  war-shattered  buildings,  was  facing 
the  same  poverty  as  Warsaw,  and  the  same  unreachable  prices,  but 
with  less  of  the  unemployment  problem.  Four  were  sent  to  Pinsk. 
At  Cracow.  Miss  Clara  T.  Dockum,  an  addition  from  the  workers  in 
France  to  the  staff  in  Poland,  was  working  out  with  a  group  a  plan 
of  field  supervision.     Other  groups  went  to  Wilna,  Lubin  and  Lodz. 

The  journey  to  Lodz  was  a  fair  sample  of  modern  travel  in  Poland. 
With  practically  no  trains  running,  the  only  way  to  cover  the  sixty 
odd  miles  was  by  water.  Two  small  Fords,  adorned  with  the  Red 
Cross  of  the  Ministry  of  Health,  were  tightly  packed  with  the  four 
passengers  and  baggage  for  a  two  months'  stay.  The  country  is  flat 
and  uninteresting,  but  with  superb  roads  and  little  villages  like  a  stage 
setting,  the  trip  was  full  of  an  interest  which  was  doubtless  mutual 
to  villager  and  tourist.  If  the  tourists  gazed  with  delight  at  the 
wonderful  dress  of  the  village  women — orange,  yellow  and  purple 
striped  material,  with  either  shawls  over  their  heads  or  yellow  capes — 
and  at  its  exact  reproduction  in  miniature  in  the  dress  of  little  girls 
of  four ;  at  the  black  striped  orange  knickerbockers,  short  black  coats, 
high  boots  and  high  Russian  hats  of  the  men ;  the  villagers  gazed  back 
in  wonder  at  the  queer,  bulky,  padded  figures  in  somber  uniforms,  the 
machines  distorted  by  strapped-on  duffle  bags,  the  fierce  fur-lined 
Russian  drivers,  all  apparently  living  for  one  thing  only — speed.  To 
add  other  attractions,  the  villagers  staged  a  dance  and  a  wedding  party 
with  high  head-dresses  of  tinsel  and  little  bells,  and  the  tourists  staged 

123 


a  turn-over.  Fortunately,  no  lives  were  lost  in  either  case.  The 
wedding  party  went  on  its  way,  and  the  Grey  Samaritans,  bruised  and 
battered,*  crawled  out  from  under  the  disabled  Ford  and  into  the 
accommodating  other  Ford,  and  in  another  three  hours  had  reported 
for  duty  in  Lodz. 

Lodz  is  the  Manchester  of  Poland..  As  the  great  industrial  center, 
it  is  nearly  all  Jewish,  since  for  generations  the  Jews  have  been  the 
industrial  workers  of  Poland.  Even  the  villages  around  Lodz  are 
Jewish — wretched  hovels  clustered  around  bare  cobbled  squares,  and 
in  the  center  of  the  towri  always  a  pump,  with  women  drawing  water 
as  of  old. 

In  all  these  centers — Lodz,  Lwow,  Vilna,  Lubin,  Kielce,  Pinsk  and 
Cracow — the  Polish  Gray  Samaritans  were  under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Relief  Administration's  European  Children's  Fund,  which 
was  bringing  into  Poland  700.000  outfits  for  children,  and  in  January, 
1920,  was  furnishing  L200,000  Polish  children  the  American  sup- 
plementary ration.  As  accredited  agents  of  this  Fund,  in  charge  of 
all  distributions  outside  Warsaw,  they  were  to  investigate  every  re- 
quest for  clothing  and  work  in  concentric  circles  from  central  ship- 
ping points,  from  which  distribution  is  made. 

This,  like  all  the  other  work  of  these  Polish-American  girls,  was 
carried  on  with  the  spirit  of  true  soldiers.  At  all  times  they  were 
ready  to  obey  orders,. putting  duty  above  personal  pleasure,  even  above 
comfort  and  safety.  Certain  of  them  scheduled  to  go  to  the  front 
were  asked  if  they  knew  what  they  had  to  face  up  there — perhaps  no 
food,  no  shelter.  They  said,  ''Never  mind,  we  will  go  wherever  you 
want  to  send  us."  It  has  been  remarked  that  they  are  the  only  group 
of  relief  workers  in  Poland  who  are  not  working  for  a  regular  salary. 
To  them  there  is  compensation  in  the  fund  that  maintains  them  in 
their  beloved  Poland  and  in  this  privilege  of  working  for  the  land 
of  their  ancestors.  A  certain  dignity  of  bearing  in  keeping  with  these 
high  ideals  has  made  them  respected  and  honored. 

Yet  whatever  may  be  said  about  them,  to  the  girls  themselves  their 
work  seems  to  amount  to  little  in  the  face  of  the  great  needs.  When 
a  girl  next  door  dies  of  starvation,  and  people  in  the  district  are  frozen 
to  death,  it  is  hard  to  keep  normal  and  continue  doing  the  small  every- 
day services.  Yet  under  such  circumstances  the  Polish  Gray  Samari- 
tans do  their  work. 

All  the  Americans  in  Poland,  deeply  sensitive  to  the  needs,  have 
been  contributng  to  this  relief  work  for  children  or  to  the  clothing 
supply  for  girls.  Some  of  them,  feeling  the  necessity  for  doing  more 
constructive^wprk  for  the  girls  of  Poland,  have  sent  in  an  appeal  for 
club  work.  [The  women  of  Poland,  nerved  to  the  crisis  for  five  years, 
are  reachingtRe  point  of  breakdown  and  mental  unbalance.  Not  only 
have  they  lived  through  five  years  of  war,  but  they  are  continuing  to 
face  what  all  the  rest  of  Europe  has  been  facing  for  the  last  four 
years:  the  giving  up  of  their  men  to  the  army  and  the  living  through 
winters  of  want,  they  have  nearly  reached  the  stage  where  feelings  are 
numb,  or  to  use  a  war  term,  they  are  shell-shocked  as  a  nation.    They 

x«4 


need  at  least  a  semblance  of  normality  in  their  lives — a  little  healthy 
recreation  and  a  little  mental  stipiulus.  In  fact,  they  need  just  what 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  can  give  ttiBn.\ 

In  response  to  an  appeal  that  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  should  do 
for  Poland  what  it  had  done  for  France  in  establishing  nurses'  clubs, 
foyers,  etc.,  some  club  work  was  planned  in  Warsaw.  With  a  staff 
of  eight  American  secretaries  it  was  possible  to  undertake  this  work, 
which  would  perhaps  be  the  Association's  best  contribution  to  war- 
stricken  Poland. 

That  Polish  women,  at  the  time  of  their  greatest  opportunity,  when 
they  themselves  might  take  a  hand  in  the  government  and  help  to 
mold  politically,  economically,  morally  and  socially  the  new  Poland, 
should  find  themselves  so  paralyzed  by  war  conditions,  so  lowered  in 
physical  vitality  as  scarcely  to  be  equal  to  their  personal  duties,  much 
less  to  national  responsibilities,  was  one  more  tragedy  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  nation.  To  relieve  their  minds,  if  only  for  an  hour  or 
two  at  a  time,  from  war  and  its  horrors  was  the  purpose  of  the  club 
work.  To  help  them  back  to  normal  was  the  ultimate  aim..  For 
Polish  women  are  splendid.  From  the  women  land  owners,  interested 
in  every  discussion  of  the  agrarian  question,  to  the  humble  working 
girl  willing  to  do  hard  labor  if  only  she  may  work,  and  from  the 
small  but  sturdy  middle  classes  to  the  noble  ladies  of  the  aristocracy — 
all  have  sufifered  and  sacrificed.  All  are  ready  to  serve.  Women  who 
have  never  worked  before  are  giving  time  to  all  the  care  and  drudgery 
of  hospital  work  for  wounded  soldiers.  Many  of  these  women  of  the 
nobility,  from  having  taken  a  hand  in  pre-war  activities  for  less  for- 
tunate women,  are  eager  now  to  help  those  who  must  sufifer  the  most. 
Many  of  them  are  more  understanding  of  the  needs  of  working  girls 
because  they  themselves  are  now  having  to  work.  In  Warsaw  some 
refugee  women  of  nobility  have  started  a  restaurant,  conspicuous  for 
its  personnel. 

[To  the  inconspicuous  daughter  of  the  poor,  alone  and  unemployed, 
lifeT^  unmitigated  hardness.  From  the  few  overcrowded  houses  that 
take  transients  she  must  be  turned  away,  to  go — where?  It  is  small 
wonder  thatjmany  girls  in  Poland  are  becoming  unbalanced  and  taking 
to  the  stre^ts^'' 

It  was  the  opening  of  the  club,  on  October  19,  1919,  to  which  the 
girls  in  Warsaw  looked  forward  with  largest  interest.  Great  prepara- 
tions were  made.  American  and  Polish  officials  were  invited.  The 
girls  themselves  prepared  a  welcoming  address.  An  interesting  com- 
ment on  the  occasion  is  the  remark  of  two  American  officers  present, 
who,  though  they  could  not  understand  a  word  of  the  speech  that  was 
made  by  a  Polish  girl,  yet  said  they  had  never  been  more  moved  by  a 
speech  in  their  lives.  The  program  of  work  was  to  follow  the  general 
scheme  of  Association  war  work,  bringing  the  much-needed  recreation, 
the  mental  stimulus  of  classes,  and  the  health-building  foundation  in 
physical  education.  The  girls  had  forgotten  how  to  play,  and  the 
natural  thing  was  for  them  to  plan  a  serious  program  for  each  meet- 
ing of  the  club;  but  some  American  secretaries,  with  the  spirit  of 
youth  which  makes  Americans  all  seem  young  to  Europeans,  would  be 

125 


126 


sure  to  brighten  up  the  evening  with  a  little  play.    Thus  the  girls  have 
their  recreation. 

The  club  occupies  three  rooms  in  a  building  owned  by  a  wealthy 
banker,  who  gives  them  free  of  rent.  One  room  serves  for  general 
club  purposes — recreation,  suppers,  classes,  dances,  etc.  A  smaller 
is  used  for  such  classes  and  meetings  as  will  fit  into  it.  The  third 
room  has  been  made  a  kitchen.  In  January,  1920,  the  club  had  about 
600  members,  divided  into  three  groups,  who  come  on  different  even- 
ings. Sunday  is  kept  for  an  open-house  day,  with  general  recreation 
evening.  The  girls  are  mainly  of  two  types,  industrial  and  clerical. 
The  clerical  workers  are  eager  for  French  lessons,  since  in  Warsaw 
French  is  a  great  asset  in  business  or  social  relationships.  Volunteers, 
some  girls  from  the  University,  teach  classes  in  arithmetic  and  Polish. 

A  visiting  secretary  describes  a  Sunday  evening  call  at  the  club : 
"Driving  along  the  very  dark  street  in  what  seemed  to  me  a  very  inac- 
cessible part  of  the  city,  I  had  the  feelling  of  being  completely  lost. 
Suddenly  I  heard  the  sound  of  voices  and  laughter  and  saw  a  crowd 
of  young  people  in  front  of  an  open  archway.  I  realized  immediately 
that  this  was  the  Girls'  Club.  The  contrast  between  the  dark  and 
lonely  street  and  the  very  cheery,  home-like  atmosphere  inside  the 
club  was  very  marked,  the  same  contrast  doubtless  between  the  girls' 
homes  and  work  and  the  club.  Music,  dancing  and  a  general  atmo- 
sphere of  a  good  time  characterized  the  Sunday  evening  gathering. 
There  were  about  150  people  enjoying  it  on  that  special  Sunday  even- 
ing. A  number  of  soldiers  from  Haller's  army.  Polish- Americans 
were  there,  furnishing  the  main  entertainment.  They  sang  singly  and 
in  groups.  Someone  recited,  and  then  they  danced  the  whirling  Polish 
dances  which  make  you  breathless  even  to  watch.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
secretary  of  the  club  was  in  the  background,  not  apparently  doing 
anything  more  than  joining  in  the  general  enjoyment,  but  really  guid- 
ing the  evening's  recreation." 

The  regular  club  supper  was  a  simple  repast  of  chocolate  and  bread, 
with  jam  occasionally  as  a  special  treat.  After  supper  came  business, 
and  then  the  group  divided  into  classes.  The  attitude  of  the  girls 
toward  the  club  was  one  of  ownership.  Nothing  was  being  forced 
on  them.  The  club  was  rather  evolving  as  requests  and  needs  required. 
It  represented  a  real  relaxation  from  relief  work,  something  perman- 
ent and  constructive,  amid  surroundings  suggesting  debility.  There 
is  through  the  club  life  a  training  for  leadership,  specifically  in  re- 
creation and  generally  in  club  direction  and  responsibility. 

The  problem  of  employment  in  Warsaw  is  a  serious  one.  Most  of 
the  factories  have  been  crippled  by  the  invading  armies.  In  one 
factory  the  Germans  took  all  the  leather;  in  another  parts  of  the  ma- 
chinery were  taken,  so  that  only  one  machine  had  all  its  parts  for 
working,  yet  that  factory  was  running  with  the  one  machine.  There 
is  much  war  devastation  in  the  cities.  Buildings  are  in  ruins,  and  the 
largest  work  is  the  clearing  away  of  debris.  Many  girls  were  seen 
doing  this  heavy  work,  side  by  side  with  the  men.  Considering  the 
fact  that  they  had  never  done  this  before,  that  they  were  barefooted 
and  lacking  in  warm  clothing,  it  is  a  wonder  that  they  could  stand 

127 


the  strain  in  which  they  Hved.  Yet  their  spirit  was  admirable.  It  is 
to  girls  such  as  these  that  the  club  has  meant  most..  A  place  that 
offered  refuge  and  recreation,  a  chance  to  dream,  and  a  chance  to 
forget  must  inevitably  be  popular. 

Summer  Work,  1920. 

During  the  months  from  June  to  October,  the  Polish  Grey  Samari- 
tans, working  with  the  American  Relief  Administration,  on  the  child 
feeding  program,  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  in  the  distribution  of 
refugee  food  and  the  inspection  of  the  Intelligencia  Kitchens.  In  this 
work  many  were  able  to  put  into  practice  some  of  the  things  they  had 
learned  in  their  preparatory  course,  such  as  helping  in  the  organization 
of  recreation,  housing,  etc.,  and  much  individual  class  work. 

The  Industrial  Girls'  Club,  which  was  begun  in  Warsaw  in  Septem- 
ber, 1919,  as  a  small  demonstration,  by  its  very  being  demanded  ex- 
pansion. New  clubs  were  formed,  and  membership  in  the  clubs  in- 
creased as  much  as  was  possible  in  the  limited  space  provided.  Efforts 
were  made  to  find  another  center,  with  more  and  larger  rooms,  to 
accommodate  the  many  girls  who  wanted  to  come  to  the  club,  but 
owing  to  the  very  acute  housing  situation  in  Poland,  this  was  im- 
possible. 

Relief  was  found  in  June  in  the  establishment  of  a  Summer  Camp 
for  Industrial  Girls  in  Henrykow,  about  two  miles  outside  of  Warsaw. 
For  two  months  various  groups  of  the  club  girls  could  go  to  the  camp 
for  a  period  not  longer  than  two  weeks,  as  the  house  could  accommo- 
date only  fifty  girls.  -  The  girls  had  saved  their  money  all  the  spring 
in  order  that  they  might  go  to  the  camp,  as  only  few  of  them  received 
a  vacation  with  pay.  This  camp  life,  though  far  from  a  model  camp 
as  we  understand  it  in  the  United  States,  was  a  real  treat  and  great 
joy  to  the  young  Polish  girls  who  formed  a  part  of  it.  Outdoor  sports 
had  to  be  limited  to  hikes,  baseball,  basketball  and  field  hockey,  as 
there  were  no  resources  for  swimming,  boating,  mountain  climbing, 
etc.,  that  make  the  American  camp  so  popular.  Campfires,  however, 
were  introduced,  and  the  spontaneous  artistic  genius  that  seems  born 
in  every  Pole,  made  the  "stunt  nights,"  arranged  extemporaneously 
by  these  girls  who  had  had  so  little  opportunity  for  the  development 
of  their  talents,  stand  out  as  superior  or  at  least  equal  to  the  labori- 
ously planned  and  practical  '"stunts"  that  the  American  college  girls 
are  so  proud  of  achieving.  The  joy  of  the  girls  in  their  new  form  of 
comradeship  and  brief  periods  of  carefree  life  in  Poland's  fascinating 
out-of-doors  could  be  constantly  discerned  in  the  charming  songs  into 
which  they  would  burst  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  but  especially  at  meal 
time  and  on  the  terrace  after  supper.  As  the  Bolshevists  were  ap- 
proaching Warsaw,  life  in  camp,  as  everywhere  else,  was  becoming 
more  and  more  tense.  The  'camp  was  therefore  closed  in!  the  last 
week  of  July.  In  September  the  club,  left  open  during  the  summer, 
was  reorganized  on  a  firmly  self-governing  basis,  with  an  enlarged 
program,  with  educational  classes,  recreation  and  gymnasium. 

The  emphasis  of  the  Nurses'  Club,  which  was  organized  in  March, 
1920,  was  shifted  from  constructive  work  toi  serve  the  great  emer- 


gency  brought  on  with  the  invasion  of  the  Bolshevists.  As  the 
Bolshevist  advance  became  a  serious  question,  new  calls  were  sent  out 
for  nurses.  Girls  began  to  leave  the  university,  the  factory,  the  office 
and  the  home  to  go  to  the  front.  But  the  Bolshevist  advance  was 
more  rapid  than  the  Poles  had  expected.  With  the  enemy  moving  at 
a  rate  of  thirty  kilometers  per  day,  hospital  upon  hospital  was  evac- 
uated and  nurses  came  flying  back  to  Warsaw  in  wild  confusion, 
among  retreating  armies  and  thousands  of  refugees.  During  the 
month  of  July  an  average  of  one  hundred  per  day  arrived  in  Warsaw, 
desolate  and  destitute.  Many  were  ill — victims  of  typhus  or  the  dysen- 
tary  epidemic  then  raging  through  Poland.  Some  had  escaped  from 
capture  by  the  Bolshevists.  Almost  all  had  lost  whatever  small  bundle 
of  clothes  they  had,  their  papers,  their  documents — and  almost  their 
wits. 

Warsaw  at  the  time  was  more  congested  than  ever,  soldiers  and 
thousands  of  refugees  coming  in  daily.  There  was  no  place  for  these 
people  excepting  the  railroad  station,  and  hundreds  of  women  and 
children,  including  the  nurses,  slept  on  its  floors  night  after  night. 
The  Polish  Red  Cross  was,  as  might  be  expected,  still  so  feeble  in  its 
organization  that  it  but  helplessly  looked  on,  without  the  ability  or 
the  resources  to  take  care  of  its  people.  New  hospitals  were  being 
organized  as  those  along  the  front  were  evacuated,  but  it  was  some 
time  before  things  cleaned  up  in  the  mad  confusion  and  nurses  could 
be  reassigned  to  their  hospitals. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  opened  an  emergency  hotel 
for  nurses.  A  floor  in  the  Polytechnique  School  was  secured  and 
equipped  with  eighty  beds.  The  Nurses'  Club  was  open  from  early 
morning  until  ten  o'clock  at  night — with  a  canteen  serving  three  meals 
a  day  at  normal  prices..  A  sum  that  had  been  given  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
for  relief  purjx)ses  was  put  into  the  canteen  during  the  period  of  the 
emergency.  An  additional  relief  fund  was  given  to  the  neediest 
nurses  for  food,  tickets,  boots  and  the  most  necessary  items  of  cloth- 
ing, to  enable  them  to  resume  their  duties  in  the  hospitals..  However 
destitute  these  women  were,  many  of  them  were  too  proud  to  accept 
the  few  marks  as  gifts,  and  by  October  at  least  one-third  of  the  money 
had  been  returned  to  the  club. 

As  conditions  became  normal  again,  and  nurses  were  becoming  de- 
mobilized or  returning  for  more  permanent  work  in  hospitals  to  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Poland,  the  hospital  was  closed,  October  1st,  and  the 
club  reorganized.  The  club  program  was  taken  over  almost  entirely 
by  the  nurses  themselves,  classes  arranged,  and  instructors  found  and 
paid  by  them,  themselves,  through  a  promising  self-governing  organ- 
ization. They  are  working  now  to  organize  a  cooperative  to  lighten 
their  economic  difficulties,  and  toward  the  organizing  of  classes  to 
give  nurses  opportunity  to  learn  something  by  which  they  might  earn 
their  living  when  demobilized.. 

There  are  two  legions  of  women  soldiers  in  Poland,  one  in 
Wilno,  the  other  in  Lwow  (Lemberg).  In  response  to  an  urgent 
appeal  from  the  Commandant  of  the  Woman's  Battalion,  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  already  established  a  hut  and  canteen  at  Lemberg 

129 


(Lwow)  similar  to  those  conducted  for  the  men  soldiers.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  felt  strongly  that  this  particular  hut  and  canteen 
should  be  in  charge  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  since  it  was  a  work  for 
women.  The  visit  of  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  was  invited  for  in- 
vestigation and  every  facility  afforded  her,  to  look  over  the  situa- 
tion. Since  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  an  actual  unit  of  the  Polish  army, 
the  privileges  accorded  were  those  of  a  Polish  officers  and  thus 
made  possible  the  travel,  commutation,  quarters,  telegraph  and 
courier  service  and  whatever  exigencies  the  case  might  require. 
As  a  result  of  this  visit  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  later  facilitated  in 
adding  its  touch  to  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the  women  sol- 
diers standing  stern  to  duty  in  the  increasing  urge  and  stress  of 
war. 

The  Lwow  Legion  came  into  being  in  November,  1918,  during 
the  siege  of  Lwow  which  lasted  twenty-eight  days  within  the  city 
and  three  months  outside.  The  Austrians  evacuating  the  city  had 
treacherously  turned  it  over  to  the  Ukraines  and  the  Poles  had 
awakened  one  morning  to  find  the  Ukrainian  flag  flying  over  their 
buildings.  With  the  fighting  men  away  in  the  Army  and  the  few 
old  men  ready  to  surrender,  there  remained  only  the  boys,  the 
girls  and  the  women.  The  women  and  girls  were  made  into 
couriers.  The  boys  took  up  arms.  Thus  was  the  city  defended 
through  the  twenty-eight  days  and  the  Ukraines  driven  out.  In 
the  three  months  fighting  that  followed,  the  Woman's  Battalion 
was  organized  from  the  women  and  girls  who  had  been  couriers; 
four  companies  of  150  women  each,  600  in  all.  Their  duties  in- 
cluded everything  that  soldiers  do — standing  guard  in  garrisons, 
acting  as  couriers  and  convoys  in  charge  of  transportation,  arrest- 
ing suspicious  persons,  tracking  down  deserters  from  the  regular 
army  and  working  in  military  offices. 

The  original  Battalion  of  600  was  made  up  largely  of  the  edu- 
cated, intellegencia,  girls  from  private  schools  and  universities, 
daughters  of  professional  men,  doctors,  lawyers,  etc.  Their  serv- 
ice was  voluntary,  actuated  by  patriotic  fervor.  The  exposure  and 
hardships  have  caused  a  number  to  break  down.  Demobilization 
has  also  brought  down  the  number  until  there  were  in  January, 
1920,  less  than  half  of  the  600  left.  Replacements  were  expected, 
however,  the  new  soldiers  coming  mostly  from  the  peasant  class. 
The  women  soldiers  live  in  barracks,  do  their  own  sentry  duty, 
follow  a  regular  soldier's  schedule  from  6  :30  reveille  to  10  tap's, 
with  a  discipline  rigid  and  punctiliously  kept. 

The  Woman's  Battalion  of  Wilno  was  formed  in  May,  1919, 
entirely  separate  from  the  Lwow  organization.  It  is  similar  in 
many  respects,  being  composed  of  both  an  intelligent  educated 
group  and  a  non-skilled  illiterate  group.  Girls  of  the  industrial 
classes  found  the  Army  a  solution  to  economic  problems — lack  of 
employment  and  high  cost  of  living. 

With  the  increase  of  hospitals  the  ranks  of  the  women  soldiers 
in  Poland  also  became  swelled.  During  July  and  August  little  could 
be  done  excepting  in  already  existing  canteens.     During  this  time  sev- 

130 


eral  companies  of  women  went  to  the  front  and  almost  all  that  had  been 
stationed  in  Wilno  met  death  in  battle.  Centers  were  taken  over  or 
established  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  the  barracks  in  Agricola  and  Praga, 
Warsaw,  and  in  Lwow  (Lemberg).  Aside  from  the  much  needed  can- 
teen, these  centers  included  the  usual  foyer  and  educational  and  recrea- 
tional work.  In  Lwow  a  group  of  interested  women  wanted  to  organize 
industrial  work  among  the  soldiers,  so  that  they  might  learn  a 
trade,  in  view  of  the  prospect  of  sudden  demobilization  of  the 
women's  battalions  and  the  consequent  unemployment  situation. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  asked  to  lend  its  support  to  this  work  and 
help  in  the  organizational  end  of  such  courses.  In  October  there 
were  about  4,000  women  soldiers  in  Poland.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
was  requested  to  take  up  work  with  the  new  battalions  in  Wilno, 
but  could  not  act  on  that  suggestion  immediately,  owing  to  the 
uncertain  conditions  in  that  section. 

The  Women's  Battalions  are  expected  to  be  permanent  as  long 
as  war  continues.  Their  general  military  status  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  men.  The  morale  of  the  women  is  high  and  has  a 
favorable  reaction  on  the  men.  As  soldiers  they  have  proved 
themselves  capable  and  highly  trustworthy.  Although  the  idea 
of  women  soldiers  is  looked  upon  with  disfavor  by  some  of  the 
conservatives  of  the  country,  the  honesty  and  moral  character  of 
the  women  soldiers  cannot  be  questioned.  They  have  proved  that 
they  are  a  necessity  and  are  worthy  of  respect.  Such  are  the  in- 
nate qualities  of  women  in  Poland.  Such  is  their  contribution, 
made  not  less  through  their  courage  than  through  their  culture, 
to  the  spTrit  of  women  everywhere. 

In  the  terrible  stress  of  conditions  which  prevailed  in  August, 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  felt  called  upon  to  give  such  relief  as  it  could 
wherever  it  was  most  needed,  so  it  turned  its  attention  to  the 
72,000  refugees  who  were  moving  westwards  before  and  during 
the  "Siege  of  Warsaw."  A  canteen  was  organized  in  one  of  the 
railroad  yards  of  Vienna  station,  Warsaw.  Food  supplies — flour, 
cocoa,  sugar,  milk,  etc. — were  given  by  the  American  Relief  Ad- 
ministration from  their  "Refugee  Supplies,"  a  small  house  was 
turned  over  to  the  organization  by  a  Polish  refugee  organization, 
and  with  the  help  of  the  latter,  two  Bolshevist  prisoners,  two 
Wilno  refugee  girls  as  cooks,  four  boy  scouts,  and  a  directing  per- 
sonnel of  University  women  students,  all  too  eager  to  serve  their 
unfortunate  compatriots,  as  many  as  6,000  distressed  men,  women 
and  children  were  fed  daily. 

It  was  not  a  novel  experience  for  these*  poor  human  beings  to  find 
themselves  compactly  crowded  into  box  cars,  for  days  and  days 
at  a  time — women,  girls  and  children  in  the  same  car  with  sol- 
diers, broken  bits  of  useless  furniture  that  had  been  rescued  the 
last  moment  without  thought  for  its  use,  crude  cooking  contri- 
vances— usually  with  nothing  to  cook — and  now  and  then  a  pig  or 
two,  the  families'  most  precious  possessions — in  the  heat  of  sum- 
mer, typhus  and  cholera  prevalent,  and  a  violent  dysentary  epi- 
demic    raging     among     them — ^people;     war- weary,     undernourished, 

131 


bordering  on  starvation.  It  was  not  the  first  time  they  had  left 
their  homes,  nor  the  second — but  for  many  the  fifth  and  sixth — 
merely  the  same  old  story.  And  for  the  fifth  and  sixth  time  they 
would  go  back  to  devastation,  and  would  have  to  begin  all  over 
again,  building  up  their  homes — if,  indeed,  they  would  ever  get 
back!  It  was  no  wonder  their  faces  were  stolid,  and  that  they 
were  almost  apathetic  to  the  conditions  about  them — at  least, 
taking  things  for  granted.  One  wondered  at  their  endurance, 
and  it  is  this  endurance  of  the  Poles  in  Poland  that  must  be  re- 
spected, regardless  of  all  conjectures,  theories  and  opinions  as  to 
how  or  whether  Poland  as  a  nation  can  or  will  or  has  the  right 
to  exist. 

In  October  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  began  work  in  Cracow, 
chiefly  among  the  girls  working  in  the  uniform  factories  there — 
the  three  Intendentura  Factories — employing  about  800  girls. 
Request  for  this  work  came  from  the  military  authorities,  and  in 
agreeing  to  undertake  it  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  automatically  received 
military  privileges  and  responsibilities  in  all  branches  of  its  work 
in  Poland.  A  building  was  turned  over  to  the  organization  for 
club  rooms,  which  it,  in  turn,  undertook  to  renovate  and  equip. 
A  committee  organized  and  offered  its  assistance  to  the  organiza- 
tion for  the  work.  Recent  reports  tell  of  the  clubs  organized  in 
the  buildings  not  only  for  the  industrial  girls,  but  also  for  busi- 
ness girls  and  nurses. 

So  far  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  done  practically  no  emigration  work,  but 
considerable  time  was  spent  in  the  fall  in  cooperation  with  other 
organizations  and  agencies,  to  work  out  a  method  by  which  Polish 
emigrants  might  find  the  help  and  assistance  they  need.  In  Octo- 
ber conferences  were  being  held  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  American 
Consulate,  the  Polish-American  Organization,  and  the  Polish 
Emigration  Society,  at  the  call  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The  proposal 
was  made  that  the  necessary  machinery  be  set  up  and  developed 
by  the  Polish  Emigration  Society,  that  financial  assistance  be 
given  by  the  Polish-American  Organization,  help  and  suggestions 
by  the  American  Consulate,  and  that  the  personnel  be  trained  by 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

In  every  branch  of  work  undertaken  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in 
Poland,  case  work  in  some  form  or  other  holds  a  prominent  place. 
A  great  deal  of  time  and  thought  and,  recently,  personnel  was 
given  to  this  work,  so  that  it  might  be  brought  together  and 
organized  as  a  special  branch  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work. 

The  small  staff  of  American  secretaries  now  in  Poland,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  counting  their  limitations  as 
nothing  in  the  face  of  their  responsibilties,  are  planning  the  broad- 
er program  with  confidence  in  the  future  of  Poland.  They  have 
seen  the  knightly  spirit  of  her  men  exemplified  in  the  soldiers,  in 
the  statesmen,  the  chivalrous  gentleman  kissing  a  noble  lady's 
hand,  even  though  that  lady  be  now  a  waitress  in  the  restaurant 
of  which  he  is  a  patron.  They  have  admired  the  patriotic  fervor 
of    her    women,    women    who    in    some    cases    have    scarcely    been 

132 


alone  in  the  streets  before,  giving  themselves  to  menial  tasks  in 
the  hospitals  or  in  the  economic  life  of  Poland  or  to  the  work  of 
defense  under  the  banner  of  the  Polish  eagle.  They  have  known 
and  loved  the  eager  response  of  young  girls  to  the  needs  in  Poland, 
girls,  whether  of  American  Polish,  or  native  Polish  families,  equal- 
ly proud  of  their  heritage.  The  ancient  chivalry  still  shines 
through  beautiful  deeds.  Not  even  the  war  can  shatter  it.  The 
artist  giving  up  his  art  for  his  country,  the  first  lady  of  Poland 
supervising  relief  for  women  and  children,  exemplify  in  one  family 
these  aspects  of  the  spirit  of  Poland. 

Poland  has  been  called*  a  knight  among  nations.  Through  years 
of  vicissitudes  she  has  kept  true  to  her  highest  ideals.  To-day  she 
is  facing  new  problems.  Whatever  help  can  be  given  now  must 
be  of  permanent  value,  pet  when  the  day  of  relief  work  has 
passed  and  Poland  is  once^tnore  a  nation  of  art  and  music  and 
splendor,  there  will  be  added  to  b«r  nobleness  the  more  demo- 
cratic virtues  of  sacrifice  and  service./^ 


133 


Czecho-Slovakia 


THE  new  republic  of  Czecho-Slovakia,  rising  out  of  the  con- 
fusion of  the  war  into  national  consciousness,  rose  also  to 
new  social  vision.  The  amalgamation  of  its  hitherto  separate 
parts,  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Silesia  and  Slovakia  into  national  unity, 
required  political  genius.  But  the  new  heads  of  government  real- 
ized far-sightedly!  that  the  firmest  unity  must  build  upon  social 
consciousness  and  the  highest  nationality  must  interpret  itself  in 
terms  of  service. 

The  people  who  now  make  up  the  new  nation,  had  long  stood 
for  some  of  the  finest  things  in  European  culture,  learning,  music 
and  the  other  arts.  If  they  had  been  misinterpreted  by  other 
Europeans  and  by  Americans  with  interpretation  varying  from 
the  picturesque  Bohemian  of  the  Latin  Quarter  of  Paris  to  the 
broadest  conception  of  the  Slav  in  America,  it  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  never  before  had  they  presented  to  the  world  a  national 
and  united  front.  The  interest  with  which  developments  in  the 
new  republic  are  being  followed  is,  therefore,  compounded  of  the 
varied  interests  in  the  several  peoples. 

Czecho-Slovakia  came  into  being  under  leadership  well-equipped 
for  its  task.  The  new  president  had  long  been  a  student  of  social 
problems.  It  was  through  his  daughter  that  the  American  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  received  an  invitation  to  help  in  a  piece  of  social  work  for 
the  new  republic.  Miss  Alice  Masaryk  had  been  much  in  America 
and  had  lived  for  eighteen  months  in  the  University  of  Chicago 
Settlement,  working  and  studying  in  the  midst  of  social  conditions 
which  furnish  an  intensive  laboratory  for  experience.  When  the 
new  republic  came  into  being.  Miss  Masaryk,  as  president  of  the 
Czecho-Slovak  Red  Cross,  felt  the  great  immediate  need  of  wel- 
fare work  in  Prague.  With  her  trained  social  consciousness  she 
recognized  as  the  first  step  the  need  for  a  survey  of  Prague. 
Turning  back  to  her  friends  in  America,  she  asked  Miss  Mary  Mc- 
Dowell, head  of  the  University  of  Chicago  Settlement,  to  send  a 
trained  expert  worker  and  staff  to  compile  a  Survey  of  Social  In- 
stitutions in  Greater  Prague.  Miss  McDowell  recommended  that 
this  should  be  undertaken  by  Miss  Ruth  Crawford  under  the  War 
Work  Council  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  The 
Association  had  already  had  experience  in  European  work  during 

134 


the  war  and  Miss  Crawford  was  trained  in  the  special  line  needed 
for  Czecho-Slovakia.  Miss  Crawford,  heading  a  unit  of  three,  left 
America  in  April,  1919.  After  a  short  stay  in  London  and  Paris 
they  reached  Prague  about  the  first  of  June,  1919.  The  immedi- 
ate task  in  hand  was  the  making  of  the  social  Survey  of  Prague. 
In  Dr.  Masaryk's  own  words,  "The  Revolution  forms  the  bound- 
ary line  between  the  period  of  philanthropy  and  the  social  politics 
founded  on  sociology."  Her  realization  of  the  need  of  making  the 
survey,  was  but  an  expression  of  her  desire  to  take  account  of 
stock.  There  was  also  the  incentive  it  would  give  to  existing*  in- 
stitutions. "I  am  convinced  the  survey  will  lead  to  thinking," 
said  Dr.  Masaryk.  "I  believe  it  will  convince  those  already  par- 
tially convinced  of  the  necessity  of  dividing  social  work  and  of 
training  social  workers  professionally.  We  have  much  talent  and 
ability  for  social  work ;  much  has  already  been  accomplished.  All 
of  us,  who  carry  about  our  little  straw,  like  ants,  wish  to  fit  our 
work  into  a  carefully  prepared  working  plan,  based  on  sociology. 
It  is  necessary  to  think  of  a  working  plan  for  social  work  in  the 
Czecho-Slovak  Republic,  and  the  survey  we  are  publishing  will 
make  clear  thinking  more  possible." 

The  War  Work  Council  in  sending  out  their  unit,  directed  that 
the  survey  be  made  through  the  Czech  people.  The  purpose  was 
not  to  tack  down  an  American  pattern,  but  only  to  put  AmericaiL 
experience  and  technique  into  the  hands  of  Czecho-SlovaksJ 
Therefore,  when  Miss  Crawford's  staff  set  to  work,  they  consulted 
the  Advisory  Council  in  which  sat  the  leading  workers  in  hygiene, 
national  economy,  and  social  welfare.  They  deliberated  with 
them  about  conditions,  and  sought  with  their  aid,  the  most  effi- 
cent  working  method. 

Out  of  the  complexity  of  social  problems,  five  subjects  were 
chosen  for  survey : 

1.  Public  Health. 

2.  Social  Aspects  of  Schools. 

3.  Occupational  Study  of  Women. 

4.  Recreation. 

5.  Social  Welfare  and  Industry. 

The  American  stafif  was  necessarily  increased  by  the  arrival  of 
new  workers,  and  by  enlisting  volunteers  from  socially  trained 
Americans  in  Prague. 

Lieutenant  Philip  S.  Piatt  of  the  U.  S.  Sanitary  Corps,  working 
in  Czecho-Slovakia  with  the  American  Relief  Administration,  be- 
came so  interested  in  the  survey  that  he  agreed  to  head  the  de- 
partment of  Public  Health.  His  services  were  of  the  greatest 
value,  because  of  his  special  equipment  for  this  part  of  the  work. 
The  general  plan  was  for  each  department  of  the  survey  to  have 
at  it$  head  an  American  expert  who  would  propose  the  methods 
and  study  the  field  side-by-side  with  a  Czech  worker.  The  survey 
was  carried  on  in  pleasant  relationship  with  the  various  American 

135 


organizations  at  work  in  the  city  and  with  the  cooperation  of  ex- 
isting^ Czech  organizations. 

ffiny  organization  at  work  in  Czecho-Slovakia  would  be  im- 
pressed with  the  earnestness  of  purpose  of  the  new  nation.  The 
group  representing  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
saw  that  purpose  center  around  the  word  "Christian."  The  land 
that  had  been  so  deep  in  religious  convictions  as  to  produce  some 
of  the  great  leaders  of  the  Reformation,  was  ready  with  newly  re- 
leased energies  to  give  active  expression^,  to  its  long  pent-up  reli- 
gious feelings.  The  greatest  need  was  for  leadership.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  for  young  women  of  Czecho-Slovakia  to  turn  to 
this  Christian  organization  from  America  for  help^  Jlonld  they 
be  helped  in  some  training  that  would  fit  for  leadership^ 

This  question  soon  found  its  way  to  the  members  of  the  unit. 
It  seemed  to  them  that  their  presence  in  Czecho-Slovakia  sh(ml^ 
count  for  the  utmost  during  the  time  that  they  were  there,  fin 
casting  about  for  some  means  of  meeting  the  situation,  they  d^* — ' 
termined  to  take  up  the  matter  of  training  leadership.  Along 
with  the  work  of  the  survey  could  be  carried  on  a  school  for 
training.  (Accordingly,  in  the  summer  of  1919,  the  summer  school 
for  training  under  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  opened  its  doors  with  the 
heads  of  the  survey  acting  as  facultyj^  When  the  news  was  spread 
that  there  would  be  such  a  school  for  the  admission  of  thirty 
scholarship  students,  the  clamor  to  be  among  the  thirty  which 
was  selected,  showed  pathetic  eagerness  on  the  part  of  young 
women  to  avail  themselves  of  such  an  opportunity.  Such  inci- 
dents as  the  arrival  of  a  girl  from  a  distant  town  saying  she  had 
been  chosen  by  the  Mayor  as  their  representative  at  the  school, 
made  more  difficult  the  choice  of  those  students  having  potential 
qualifications  for  leadership.  Nevertheless,  the  choice  was  made 
and  the  school  under  way  iqJulyC^  7 

The  school  was  housed  in  an  old  palace  formerly  used  as  resi- 
dence by  the  Austrian  governor  of  Bohemia,  the  house  itself,  more 
picturesque  than  convenient,  furnishing  a  practical  object  lesson 
in  adapting  apparently  unadaptable  places  to  existing  situations. 
The  curriculum  was  planned  on  a  basis  of  four  general  courses  re- 
quired of  all  students,  and  five  specialized  types  of  training.  The 
required  courses  were: 

1.  The  Woman  Citizen. 

2.  Methods  of  Social  Care. 

3.  Social  Hygiene. 

4.  Personal  Hygiene. 

The  electives  were  the  general  course  on  Religion  and  courses 
on: 

1.  Dependent  Children. 

2.  'Delinquency. 

3.  Infant  Welfare. 

4.  Recreation. 

136 


The  students  were  given  opportunity  for  practical  study  of  a 
district  with  the  chance  of  forming  their  own  conception,  through 
personal  observation,  of  a  community  as  an  organic  whole. 

The  students  came  from  varieties  of  background.  One  girl  ex- 
plained that  she  could  not  have  come  if  her  mother  had  not  given 
her  some  old  hand-woven  sheets  from  which  she  prepared  her 
underwear.  Another  little  woman  who  had  left  six  children  be- 
hind arrived  in  wooden  sandals  which  she  wore  until  she  was  able 
proudly  to  replace  them  by  a  pair  of  brown  shoes  for  which  money 
had  been  sent  her  by  the  Ctiy  Council  at  home.  This  woman  rep- 
resented a  large  workmen's  community,  organized  on  socialistic 
lines.     Some  of  the  students  had  emerged  out  of  the  shadows  of 

war  misery  and  leaving  tragedy  behind,  opened  their  minds  to 
these  new  interests  in  which  they  found  the  courage  to  live. 

The  school  brought  to  light  some  of  the  chaotic  problems  that 
lay  below  the  surface  of  life  in  Czecho-Slovakia — problems  that 
concern  the  meaning  and  the  mystery  of  existence.  In  the  war 
these  people,  like  the  people  of  other  nations,  had  faced  death. 
They  were  now  facing  life  with  new  questions  urged  by  inde- 
pendent thinking.  This  state  of  mind  was  described  by  one  of  the 
leaders  as  "mental  and  spiritual'  upheaval,  reformation-brewing." 
A  student  compared  the  state  of  mind  of  the  country  to  the 
women  who  have  carried  great  coal  hods  on  their  backs  until  they 
are  crooked  and  wizened  and  until  they  missed  the  load  when  it 
was  taken  off.  Throughout  the  course  there  were,  in  the  words 
of  a  leader  of  Czecho-Slovakia,  "constant  proofs  of  the  desire  to  find 
out  more  about  the  source  of  the  warm  and  helpful  atmosphere  in 
their  work."  "Christianity,"  said  this  leader,  "ethically  reviewed 
by  our  women,  means  to  them  service." 

The  School  closed  September  15,  1919.  By  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber every  student  except  one  was  at  work  in  some  position.  One 
student  was  reorganizing  the  office  of  the  Czecho-Slovak  Red 
Cross  according  to  more  progressive  methods.  Another  student, 
less  aggressive,  spent  twenty-four  hours  in  the  office  of  the  Child 
Welfare  Society  and  returned  in  tears  to  say  "I  can't  stand  it. 
It's  so  ugly,  so  dirty,  and  they  keep  all  the  windows  shut!'*  That 
which  had  meant  the  most  to  the  students  at  the  school  was 
every  little  detail  of  home  life  which  they  had  absorbed  with  great 
interest.  And  yet  they  saw,  too,  a  big  need  in  the  life  of  the  girls 
of  Prague  which  they  themselves  might  help  to  meet.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Miss  Olga  Masaryk  they  made  a  formal  request  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Czecho-Slovakia. 

This  request  was  paralleled  by  letters  of  inquiry,  questions  of 
interest — "How  long  are  you  going  to  stay?"  "Will  you  establish 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  ?"  "What  is  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  like  in  America?"  Pur- 
posely the  American  unit  had  given  no  publicity  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  since 
coming  to  Prague  in  order  that  they  might  concentrate  all  eflfort 
on  the  survey.  Now  these  questions  must  be  answered.  A  series 
of  afternoon  and  evening  meetings  were  planned   in   order  that 

137 


(those  interested  might  come  together  to  hear  about  what  the 
Yv.  W.  C.  A.  was  doing  in  other  countries  and  how  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
nappened  to  come  to  Czecho-Slovakia.  There  were  student 
groups  and  meetings  of  representative  women  of  the  city.  All 
of  them  were  equally  concerned  to  know  more  of  their  American 
faith  in  European  women,  a  faith  greater  than  that  of  the 
European  women  in  themselves,  a  faith  in  which  these  women  of 
the  new  republic  of  Czecho-Slovakia  wished  to'^areT^ 

A  number  of  factors  entered  into  the  establishment  of  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  work  in  Czecho-Slovakia.  One  was  the  splendid  cooperation 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  which  had  already  planned  a  program  so  nearly 
paralleling  for  men  what  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  would  do  for  women 
that  it  was  decided  to  undertake  a  joint  policy  by  which  the 
entire  work  could  be  enlarged  and  broadened.  Under  the  wise 
planning  of  a  liaison  committee  the  joint  work  was  most  success- 
ful with  the  students  and  with  the  department  of  recreation.  An- 
other factor  was  the  contact  through  Miss  Olga  Masaryk  with  the 
World  Student  Christian  Federation.  From  having  been  before 
the  war  one  of  the  strongest  Federation  leaders  in  Europe^  this 
younger  daughter  of  the  President  was  now  in  a  position  to  help 
greatly  in  laying  the  foundations  for  a  Christian  Student  Move- 
ment in  Czecho-Slovakia.  A  third  factor  was  the  new  condition 
of  freedom  left  by  the  war:  freedom  of^ thought,  freedom  of  reli- 
gious beliefs,  freedom  of  expression.  LA  deeper  interest  in  things 
Christian  led  to  an  emphasis  on  the  C  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Never 
had  the  need  for  Christian  work  among  women  been  greater. 
The  sudden  woman  consciousness  springing  out  of  the  war  had 
done  its  part  toward  recruiting  women  for  industry,  the  profes- 
sions and  for  relief  work.  Unprepared  for  the  political  rights  be- 
stowed upon  them,  their  greatest  need  was  for  leadership.  The 
opportunity  thus  placed  before  the  Christian  organization  that 
answered  the  call  was  unparalleljej] 

The  permanent  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Czecho-Slovakia  was 
divided  into  departments :  among  them  the  City  Department,  the 
Student  Department,  the  Recreation  Department,  Household 
Economics  Department,  the  Emigration  Department.  Each  de- 
partment was  headed  by  an  executive  secretary  with  her  staff  of 
workers  and  her  committee  of  women,  and  each  was  developing 
along  its  own  lines. 

City  Department.  The  offices  which  had  served  to  house  the 
busy  hive  of  survey  workers  underwent  a  transformation  from  a 
place  where  social  activities  were  outlined  on  paper  to  a  place 
where  social  atmosphere  radiated  in  active  demonstration.  Blue 
curtains  at  windows  of  sunshine,  yellow  daffodils  against  dull  blue 
upholstery,  stately  old  chairs  and  a  round  table  crowned  by  a 
gold  lampshade — all  of  these,  together  with  a  piano,  some  writing 
tables  and  a  few  good  pictures,  had  displaced  the  clicking  type- 
writers of  the  survey  and  gathered  a  restfulness  of  home.  Nor 
was  it  strange  that  into  such  surroundings  came  the  girls  of  the 
city.     Domestic  servants,  clerks,  high  school  girls,  girls  from  gov- 

138 


ernment  offices,  were  among  the  number.  Group  meetings, 
classes,  conferences,  games,  hikes,  talks,  whatever  the  girls 
wanted,  if  it  could  be  included  in  the  schedule,  was  included 
in  the  program.  By  May  1,  1920,  the  enrollment  had  reached  500 
and  no  more  members  could  be  received  because  of  lack  of  places 
in  the  classes  and  of  accommodation  in  the  building.  Every  day 
from  two  o'clock  till  evening  the  rooms  were  full  of  girls  coming 
and  going.  Some  liked  to  sit  and  read.  Others  waited  for  a 
friend.  But  the  largest  number  were  in  classes.  After  classes 
were  over,  the  evening  was  often  given  over  to  general  recreation, 
sometimes  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  cinema  presented  by  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  Saturday  afternoons  the  lovely  rooms  formed  the  starting 
place  for  a  hike  over  the  hills  surrounding  Prague.  What  could 
be  more  thrilHng  to  these  girls  than  a  "Hare  and  Hound  Chase" 
with  their  new  found  friends  through  their  newly  appreciated 
countryside?  Large  general  gatherings  furnished  occasion  to 
hear  such  speakers  as  Dr.  Masaryk  or  Mis^  Julia  Lathrop,  a  vis- 
itor from  Washington,  on  the  Responsibilities  of  Woman  in  a 
'Democracj^p  Thus  was  carried  on  the  all-around  program  of  the 
City  Association  with  its  eager  response  forthcoming. 

Student  Department.  In  December,  1919,  a  group  of  women 
students  came  together  in  mass  meeting  and  elected  a  committee 
of  twelve  to  plan  for  the  women's  wing  of  the  joint  student  build- 
ing of  the  Y.  M.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  This  committee  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  first  week-end  student  conference.  A  series  of  con- 
ferences were  held  for  different  groups  representing  scholastically 
medical,  law,  philosophical  and  technical  schools  and,  geographi- 
cally, Slovakia,  Moravia,  Bohemia  and  Jugo-Slavia.  A  visit  from 
some  of  the  World  secretaries  helped  by  bringing  these  students 
in  touch  with  what  other  students  were  doing.  A  secretary  wrote : 
*'The  students  are  wide-eyed  with  enthusiasm  and  come  every  day 
to  the  office  with  suggestions  for  the  development  of  the  work." 
In  such  a  spirit  the  work  grew.  On  its  practical  side  it  furnished 
the  women's  wing  of  the  joint  student  building  with  all  the  facili- 
ties of  foyer,  club  rooms,  rest  room,  bathrooms  and  study  rooms. 
In  the  basement  of  the  building  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  ran  a  cafeteria 
with  a  capacity  for  serving  2,000.  Some  provision  was  made  for 
student  relief  work  through  nursing  services,  sick  diet,  conval- 
escing rooms,  etc. 

Recreation  Department.  The  joint  program  planned  originally 
for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  with  the  survey  recommenda- 
tions in  view,  developed  into  the  national  program  of  recreation 
for  the  Czecho-Slovak  government.  Xhis  included  a  training 
course  for  leaders  of  playground  work,!  the  establishment  of  play- 
grounds as  illustrations  of  the  American  type  and  the  develop- 
ment of  interest  in  sports:  football,  basketball,  tennis,  running, 
and  the  more  juvenile  see-saws,  sandpiles,  wading  pools,  etc. — 
whatever  would  give  freedom  of  play  and  teach  good  sportsman- 
ship?] Smaller  playgrounds  were  established  in  four  or  five  other 
cities  outside  of  Prague. 

139 


With  these  Departments  running,  the  joint  work  with  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  making  history  in  cooperation,  with  the  survey  finished  and 
permanent  results  already  demonstrated,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in 
Czecho-Slovakia  was  not  only  established  in  name  but  was  build- 
ing upon  the  sure  foundation  of  fulfilling  a  need  in  the  lives  of 
girls  and  therefore  of  gaining  loyalty  tq  a  Christian  movement. 
The  secretaries  who  had  come  to  make  a  survey,  remained  to  start 
an  Association.  Adapting  themselves  equally  to  a  palace  home 
or  to  poverty  conditions  they  made  the  blue  of  the  Triangle  stand 
for  hospitality  as  it  had  stood  everywhere  else  in  Europe.  Palace 
or  hut,  the  Blue  Triangle  meant  that  American  women  were  at 
home.  The  palace  home  of  the  secretaries  in  Prague  was  no  ex- 
ception to  this  rule,  as  almost  every  week  saw  some  Hostess 
House  activity  under  the  palace  roof,  whether  in  offering  shelter 
and  rest  to  an  overtired  American  woman  worker,  or  in  furnishing 
the  setting  for  an  all-American  party  and  "get-together."  On  all 
great  occasions,  such  as  Christmas,  the  home  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
was  the  gathering  place  where  the  other  Americans  were  sure  to 
find  the  appropriate  "trimmings."  To  the  other  activities  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Czecho-Slovakia  might  therefore  be  added  that  of 
Hostess  House,  but  after  all,  this  bit  of  America  in  Czecho- 
slovakia but  furnished  another  tie  to  bind  together  two  kindred 
republics.  Alike  in  ideals,  they  blended  their  aims  in  a  com- 
panionship of  purpose. 

Summer  Work,  1920 

In  the  month  of  June  the  Sokols,  the  huge  Gymnastic  Associa- 
tion of  Czecho-Slovakia,  held  a  large  Slet  in  Prague.  Members 
of  other  Associations  from  all  over  the  Czecho-Slovakia  Re- 
public participated  in  this  fete  and  Prague  had  six  hundred  thous- 
and visitors.  The  Slet  of  the  Sokols,  which  means  the  gathering 
of  the  Falcons,  meets  every  five  years.  At  this  time  huge 
pageants  and  performances  are  given,  showing  the  physical\  edu- 
cation program  and  activities  of  the  association.  At  the  different 
performances  ten,  fifteen  and  twenty  thousand  people  perform  at 
one  time — men  and  women  in  separate  groups.  This  meant  that 
thousands  of  women  from  all  over  the  Czecho-Slovakia  republic 
participated  in  these  exhibitions.  Large  dressing  rooms  were  es- 
tablished on  the  Slet  grounds  and  were  put  aside  for  men  and 
women,  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  asked  to  participate  by  having 
a  rest  house  for  the  women  taking  part  in  the  program  of  the 
Sokols.  The  Association  had  two  tents  in  different  parts  of  the 
ground.  These  tents  were  fitted  comfortably  with  camp  chairs, 
writing  tables  and  writing  material,  and  proved  to  be  a  great 
source  of  comfort  to  the  Sokol  women.  It  also  gave  the  secre- 
taries a  chance  to  know  women  from  all  over  the  Republic.  Four 
different  groups  participated  each  day.  The  weather  was  ex- 
tremely warn,  and  there  were  many  cases  of  fainting  among  the 
women.  The  Czech  Red  Cross  took  care  of  emergency  cases  but 
the  Association  tents  proved  to  be  the  preventive  source,  and  the 

140 


141 


workers  were  told  by  the  women  that  they  would  never  forget 
what  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  done  for  them. 

Another  temporary  center  opened  at  this  time  was  the  rest 
rooms  and  information  bureau  at  Alesovice.  This  Hostess  House 
was  carried  on  in  cooperation  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  was  for 
the  benefit  of  the  eleven  hundred  Czech-Americans  attending  the 
Slet.  Three  large  rooms  in  one  of  the  schools  were  given  for 
this  purpose  and  were  fitted  up  most  attractively  with  furniture 
secured  from  the  Red  Cross  and  borrowed  from  local  stores. 
These  rooms  proved  a  source  of  comfort  to  Czecho-Americans  in 
town,  but  many  visiting  young  Czech  girls  who  were  housed  in 
the  school  building  used  the  rooms  as  reception  rooms.  This 
helped  prove  to  the  Czechs  that  the  Czech  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  not 
only  needed  in  Czecho-Slovakia  but  that  the  work  could  be  carried 
on  by  Czechs  as  well  as  Americans — for  many  days  during  the 
Slet  season  the  centers  were  in  charge  of  Czechs  only. 

During  the  month  of  July  the  Stvanice  Playfield  for  girls  was 
opened  by  the  Prague  City  Y.  W.  C.  A.  It  is  situated  on  a  beau- 
tiful island  in  the  Vltava  River.  It  is  not  far  from  the  heart  of 
the  city  and  is  one  of  the  coolest  and  most  beautiful  spots  in 
Prague.  There  the  Association  has  taken  one  end  of  the  island 
and  fenced  it  off  for  a  city  center.  There  are  two  tents — one  very 
attractively  furnished  with  comfortable  chairs,  reading  and  writ- 
ing tables,  hanging  baskets  of  flowers  and  everything  to  make  a 
room  cozy  and  comfortable.  The  other  tent  houses  a  small  cafe- 
teria. There  very  simple  dishes  are  served  at  noon  hour  while 
coffee,  cocoa  and  tea  and  sandwiches  may  be  procured  at  all  other 
hours.  The  cafeteria  not  only  proved  a  coriifort  to  many  girls 
but  also  was  popular  with  many  Americans  in  the  city.  As  the 
space  of  the  cafeteria  warranted  more  people  than  came,  it  was 
decided  to  help  out  the  student  department  by  feeding  the  stu- 
dents at  low  rates,  for  the  feeding  of  the  students  in  Prague  is 
one  of  the  most  serious  emergency  problems.  The  girls  in  at- 
tendance at  the  playfield  during  the  summer  provide  a  nucleus  for 
the  winter  clubs  of  the  City  Association. 

The  camp  at  Prerov,  under  the  supervision  of  Miss  Hess  and  Miss 
Buse,  was  the  most  successful  part  of  the  summer  program.  The 
camp  was  ideally  situated  and  an  excellent  spirit  prevailed.  This  camp 
cared  for  fifty  girls  at  a  time,  each  girl  staying  from  one  to  two  weeks, 
so  that  within  a  season  of  practically  ten  weeks  about  three  hundred 
girls  were  taken  care  of.  All  of  these  girls  are  looking  forward  to  the 
next  year's  camp,  and  the  leaders  created  during  the  summer  camp 
have  been  lof  great  aid  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  carrying  this  winter's 
work. 

Plans  for  the  emigration  department  were  outlined  during  the 
summer.  It  is  hoped  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to- 
gether can  operate  barracks  for  emigrants,  finding  a  matron  and 
a  social  case  worker.  Assistance  will  be  rendered  in  connection 
with  passports  and  travel  matters  as  well.  This  department  is  only 
in  its  begnning. 

142 


Near  East 


IN  the  administration  of  its  war  emergency  funds  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  felt  itself  responsible  not 
only  to  work  in  such  places  as  were  accessible  and  in  line 
with  its  other  activities,  but  also  to  reach  out  regardless  of  dis- 
tance, to  the  places  of  greatest  need  and  to  unusual  forms  of  serv- 
ice. The  appeal  of  the  Near  East  in  1918-19,  therefore,  could  not 
be  overlooked.  Where  thousands  of  women  and  girls  were  con- 
cerned in  a  situation  involving  refugees,  encamped  in  a  long,  hope- 
less, meager  line,  facing  starvation,  bereft  of  family,  palsied  in  out- 
look, with  small  prospect  of  ever  reaching  their  former  homes 
and  small  incentive  to  try,  in  the  face  of  unended  war  and  ruthless 
massacre — there  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  could  be  of  service.  What  dif- 
ference had  the  Armistice  made  in  the  interior  of  Turkey?  It  had 
meant  no  more  to  undiscriminating  Turks  thirsty  for  blood  than 
to  weary  refugees  hungry  for  bread. 

What  difference  had  the  Armistice  made  in  the  Near  East?  It 
had  intensified  suffering.  It  had  made  this  suffering  harder  to 
bear  because  relief  seemed  in  sight.  War  had  driven  the  world 
with  a  tight  rein  and  when  release  suddenly  came,  the  tension  was 
loosed  only  to  bring  collapse  in  helpless  weakness  where  many 
peoples  were  concerned.  In  1919  a  movement  was  sweeping  over 
Turkey  by  which  thousands. of  women  and  girls,  Armenian  Chris- 
tians, were  being  released  from  Turkish  homes  and  set  adrift. 
Who  would  offer  them  aid?  Would  they  be  forced  to  return  to 
their  Mohammedan  captors  who  had  freed  them  only  under  pres- 
sure? 

It  was  in  this  crisis  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  cooperation  with 
the  American  Committee  for  Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief  (known 
also  as  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  the  Near  East  and 
the  Near  East  Relief)  asked  Miss  Margaret  White,  under  appoint- 
ment of  that  committee  for  service  in  the  Near  East,  to  represent 
the  Association  in  looking  over  the  ground  with  a  view  to  the 
possibilities  for  Association  work  in  conjunction  with  the  Near 
East  Relief.  Miss  White  sailed  in  February,  1919,  and  reached 
Constantinople  March  8th. 

Conditions  in  the  Near  East  were  unspeakable.  In  one  center 
68,000  refugees  by  actual  census  were  being  fed  at  relief  kitchens. 

143 


[p 

_^ 

\ 

"Q 

"! 

] 

1 
J. 

i 

i) 

) 

h 

I 

< 

> 
■7, 

H 

«< 

1            i 

I 

•      S 

"'^-'^-'X^l^^^ 

o    ) 

1           i 

</ 

V              ^"^ 

<? 

j 

\}.- 

H 

\ 

/ 

^  ^ 

Y 

a\ 

k 

3 

A/ 

i  \? 

1^ 

A. 

__ 

y^ 

144 


In  the  city  of  Alexandrapol  it  was  not  unusual  to  pick  up  192 
corpses  in  a  day.  One-seventh  of  the  refugees  were  dying  each 
month.  Dr.  G.  H.  T.  Main,  Commissioner  to  the  Caucausus  of 
the  A.  C.  R.  N.  E.  in  one  of  his  reports  describes  horrors  which 
which  had  become  a  daily  sight  to  him:  *'At  Ejchmiadzin  I 
looked  for  a  time  at  a  refugee  burial.  Seven  bodies  were  thrown 
indiscriminately  into  a  square  pit  as  carrion  and  covered  with 
the  earth  without  any  suggestion  of  care  or  pity.  As  I  looked  at 
the  workmen  I  saw  a  hand  protruding  from  the  loose  earth.  It 
was  a  woman's  hand  and  seemed  to  be  stretched  out  in  mute  ap- 
peal." This  mute  appeal  of  the  dead  was  no  more  pathetic  than 
the  mute  appeal  of  the  living  women  and  children  emerging  from 
their  sequestered  life  in  Turkish  harems,  dazed  to  find  themselves 
free.  Who  would  help  them?  It  was  to  women  such  as  these 
that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  came  with  a  purpose  to  help  to  save  the 
refugees  from  death  and  to  hold  out  to  the  freed  captives  some 
hope  in  life. 

Miss  White's  first  care  was  to  consult  the  Committee  of  the 
V.  W.  C.  A.  remaining  from  the  time  of  Miss  Frances  Gage,  who 
as  the  first  regular  secretary  for  work  in  the  Near  East  had  sailed 
in  May,  1913,  and  served  until  her  death  in  July,  1917.  The  Com- 
mittee was  called  together  on  March  17,  1919,  to  consider  partic- 
ularly work  which  ought  to  be  undertaken  in  Constantinople. 
That  city  had  been  the  safest  place  in  the  country  for  Greeks  and 
Armenians.  The  Committee,  therefore,  advised  an  investigation 
of  the  employment  situations  as  a  first  step.  A  second  need,  in 
their  opinion,  was  a  cafeteria  for  girls  employed  in  stores  and 
offices.  Girls  who  had  training,  but  no  homes  might  be  helped 
through  the  Employment  Bureau  to  get  on  their  feet  again.  The 
Employment  Bureau  began  on  a  simple  scale,  for  the  most  part 
through  personal  conversations  with  girls  who  happened  in.  Thirty 
definite  applications  were  made  in  July  1919,  and  about  a  third  of 
these  were  assisted  to  find  positions;  others  were  not  ready  for 
hard  work.  'Discouraged  with  the  hardships  they  had  been\  com- 
pelled to  face,  lonely  in  the  loss  of  relatives  and  friends,  many  of 
them  had  reached  the  stage  where  life  did  not  seem  worth  the  ef- 
fort. Wages  were  low,  living  was  mounting  continually.  Through 
the  cafeteria  the  living  problem  could  be  helped. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  fortunate  in  having  in  the  Near  East  so 
loyal  and  understanding  a  friend  as  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Dodge  Hunt- 
ington of  Robert  College,  Constantinople.  To  Mrs.  Huntington 
they  turned  for  advice  as  to  meeting  the  situations  in  which  they 
found  themselves.  She  and  Miss  White  consulting  together  ar- 
rived at  the  conclusion  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  could  be  of  great  help 
in  the  Near  East  at  this  particular  time.  Other  secretaries  were 
therefore  asked  for  as  soon  as  possible  and  were  on  their  way  by 
the  early  summer. 

Without  waiting  for  their  arrival  a  service  center  was  opened  in 
Constantinople  on  June  7,  1919.  About  eighty  were  present  at  the 
first  meeting.  Like  a  family  gathered  at  a  fireside  the  group  came 

145 


together,  splendid  girls  who  had  known  Miss  Gage,  abGdt  twenty-five 
girls  from  the  College  Association,  and  friends,  both  English  and 
American,  who  were  interested  in  girls.  The  plans  were  explained 
by  Mrs.  Huntington  and  Miss  White  and  met  with  much 
enthusiasm.  One  month  later  the  enrollment  had  reached  147  in 
English  classes  and  a  general  membership  of  over  300.  In  addition 
to  classes  there  were  Saturday  evening  *'cozy  times"  and  Sunday 
gatherings  with  a  program  of  some  sort.  On  one  Sunday  Mrs. 
Herbert  Hoover  gave  a  talk  on  "Friendship".  On  another  day  the 
Armenian  girls  gave  a  program  of  old  dances  and  stories.  One 
week  later  a  walk  was  planned  to  be  followed  by  a  membership 
Sunday  with  a  committee  in  charge  and  little  cards  to  indicate 
interest.  The  attendance  at  these  Sunday  afternoons  ran  from 
twenty-two  to  seventy-five. 

Volunteer  workers,  many  of  them  graduates  or  students  of 
Constantinople  College  were  not  slow  in  coming  forward  to  offer 
time  and  services  to  help  with  the  work.  And  many  were  the 
places  where  they  could  fit  into  the  program :  as  teachers  of  Eng- 
lish and  French,  as  club  leaders  or  as  committee  workers.  Their 
eagerness  amounting  to  a  hunger  to  know  more  of  what  women 
were  doing  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  made  the  training  of  these 
young  women  in  Association  principles,  a  contribution  not  to  be 
lost. 

The  end  of  July,  1919,  saw  the  arrival  of  four  new  secretaries  from 
America  for  one  or  two  year  periods.  With  Miss  Carrie  Van  Pat- 
ten Young,  as  Executive  they  were  not  slow  in  making  their 
presence  and  inspiration  felt  in  the  life  of  the  Association.  After 
a  conference  with  Major  Arnold  on  the  piece  of  work  most  essential 
for  the  War  Work  Council  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  undertake  in  the 
Near  East  outside  of  Constantinople,  it  seemed  clear  that  two 
workers  should  go  to  Harpoot  to  be  in  charge  of  the  Home  for 
Girls  taken  from  the  Turks.  This  was  an  opportunity  to  help 
more  directly  than  in  Constantinople  in  the  work  of  relief,  afford- 
ing a  chance  to  demonstrate  what  Association  workers  could  do 
in  such  a  home  and  affording  opportunity  to  study  the  needs  and  open- 
ings for  future  permanent  work.  Moreover,  the  appeal  of  the  terrible 
suffering  in  that  section  was  a  challenge  to  service  such  as  no 
organization  could  fail  to  heed. 

To    picture    the    journey    to    Harpoot   as    written    enthu(siastic|ally 
.  in  a  letter  from  one  of  the  secretaries,  is  to  describe  most  effectively 
the  background  against  which   is   silhouetted   a   courage  and  en- 
durance which  could  never  be  wrung  out  of  abstract  words.     The 
two  secretaries  left  Constantinople  on  Saturday,  August  2,  1919. 

*'Our  car  was  a  .box  car,  empty  but  nice  and  clean  and  quite 
preferable  to  the  dirty,  dilapidated  passenger  coaches  (everything 
in  Turkey  is  dilapidated  since  the  war).  We  arranged  our  trunks 
and  boxes  for  seats  so  that  we  were  comfortable  and  our  journey 
began.  It  took  five  hours  to  go  the  fifty  miles  to  Derindje,  but 
we  enjoyed  every  minute  of  it.    The  road  follows  the  coast  nearly 

146  ' 


all  the  way  and  wide  open  doors  in  either  side  afforded  wonderful 
opportunity  to  see  the  country." 

At  Derindje,  the  station  from  which  all  Near  East  Relief  workers 
and  supplies  were  sent  into  the  interior,  there  was  a  dela^y  until 
Tuesday,  August  5,  when  they  continued  their  journey.  "There 
were  thirteen  of  us  in  three  box  cars.  We  were  each  supplied 
with  an  iron  bed,  mattress,  etc.  The  middle  car  was  fitted  up 
at  one  end  as  the  mess  car.  There  was  a  full  supply  of  rations, 
a  coal  oil-stove  and  a  meager  supply  of  cooking  utensils.  We  even 
had  a  ladder  to  climb  in  and  out  of  the  car  with.  I  could  never 
have  believed  that  one  could  be  so  comfortable  traveling  in  a  box 
car.  Of  course  there  were  many  difficulties  such  as  keeping  the 
food  from  jolting  off  the  stove  while  cooking.  We  had  to  wait 
until  the  train  stopped  before  we  could  get  from  one  car  to  the 
other,  so  the  meals  were  not  very  regular.  We  would  watch  ahead 
for  a  station  and  be  ready  to  jump  when  we  arrived.  The  rest  of 
the  train  consisted  of  cars  filled  with  Turkish  soldiers  who  had 
been  prisoners  of  war  in  Egypt  and  had  just  been  released.  Their 
home  coming  was  quite  a  contrast  to  that  of  our  boys.  They  were 
ragged  and  unkempt,  and  no  one  seemed  to  pay  any  especial  attention 
to  them  when  they  dropped  off  at  various  stations. 

"We  reached  Konia  which  is  the  end  of  one  division  of  the  rail- 
road Thursday,  August  7,  about  noon.  Although  one  of  the  largest 
interior  towns,  it  was  dreary  and  dusty  and  colorless  in  the  midst 
of'  a  dusty  brown  plain.  Here  we  saw  our  first  refugees,  Arabs, 
camped  out  near  the  railroad,  ragged  and  dirty,  patiently  waiting  for 
government  to  make  some  disposition  of  them.  I  have  never  seen  such 
rags  in  my  life  as  since  I  have  been  in  Turkey,  but  they  are 
certainly  pictureque,  being  made  up  of  patches  of  as  many  colors 
as  Joseph's  coat.  There  are  always  bits  of  blue  and  red  and  yellow 
about  them." 

Two  days  in  Konia  they  lived  in  their  box  cars  on  the  siding. 
The  next  stop  was  Oulon  Kishla,  the  end  of  their  railroad  journey. 
From  there  they  took  trucks  with  gasoline  cans  for  seats.  "We 
had  scarcely  left  Oulon  Kishla  when  we  met  a  party  of  friendly 
Turks,  who  tried  to  warn  us  by  gestures  not  to  go  on  as  there  was 
a  party  of  bandits  up  in  the  mountains  who  had  just  robbed  and 
killed  some  people  and  were  lying  in  wait  for  us.  But  we  went 
on  and  were  unmolested ;  our  driver,  however,  kept  his  gun  on  the 
seat  beside  him.  The  people  in  the  car  ahead  of  us  saw  the*  bandits 
up  in  the  mountains." 

They  reached  Ceasarea,  having  covered  a  distance  of  128  miles  in 
seven  days.  "I  can't  describe  to  you  the  sensation  it  gave  one  to  ride 
into  that  historic  city  which  lay  sleeping  in  the  bright  moonlight. 
Not  a  light  was  visible  and  one  felt  as  if  by  some  magic  one  had 
been  carried  backwards  into  Bible  times.  The  whole  city  has  ap- 
parently changed  very  little  during  all  the  centuries." 

At  Caesarea  and  Talas  (a  mission  station  five  miles  away)  the 
two  secretaries  found  opportunity  to  rest  a  day  or  two  and  learn 

147 


something  of  the  relief  and  industrial  work  being  carried  on  among 
orphans  and  in  the  hospital.  A  Girls'  Mission  School  under  the 
American  Board  had  come  in  for  its  share  of  war  work  in  the  rescue 
of  its  former  pupils  from  the  Turks.  "One  of  these  girls  was  the 
wife  of  an  Armenian  who  was  in  America.  When  the  war  began 
the  Turks  came  and  took  her  with  her  mother  and  older  sister. 
They  put  them  in  a  room  and  after  a  while  came  in  and  discussed 
which  of  them  was  the  most  desirable.  They  finally  decided  to 
keep  her,  and  she  had  to  stand  there  and  know  that  her  mother 
and  sister  were  being  taken  away  to  be  killed." 

The  former  teachers  of  the  Girls'  School,  now  engaged  in  relief 
work,  had  known  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  its  activities  through  the 
earlier  organization  that  had  existed  in  Turkey.  They  were  con- 
sequently eager  to  have  the  work  started  again.  Just  before  the 
war  began  they  were  engaged  in  a  conference  discussing  the  de- 
velopment of  Association  work  in  Turkey.  The  day  spent  in 
Caesarea  by  the  two  secretaries  was  therefore  fruitful  of  interest 
and  encouraging  in  outlook. 

From  Caesarea  they  traveled  another  125  miles  to  Sivas.  "The 
farther  one  goes  into  the  interior",  writes  one  of  the  secretaries, 
"the  more  work  there  is  to  do  and  the  more  people  there  are  to 
care  for.  It  is  a  question  of  finding  food  and  clothing  and  shelter 
for  these  people  out  here  in  a  country  where  almost  everything 
has  been  destroyed  and  transportation  is  next  to  impossible.  The 
problem  in  France  and  Belgium  is  nothing  compared  to  this." 

Leaving  Sivas  on  August  24,  1919,  a  truck  train  of  seventeen  cars, 
they  drove  ninty-three  miles  over  mountains  and  mountains,  pitched 
a  camp  in  the  open  when  night  came,  drove  sixty-five  miles  the 
next  day  to  Malatia,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  set  out 
on  the  last  lap  of  their  journey.  About  noon  they  came  to  the 
Euphrates,  "such  a  peaceful  river  that  one  would  never  suspect  that 
some  200,000  Armenians  had  been  drowned  there."  The  next  twelve 
hours  brought  difficulties  of  sand,  mountain  climbing  and  sharp 
turns,  on  tires  that  refused  to  stand  up.  They  were  in  reach  of  the 
end,  however,  and  at  1  A.  M.  some  people  came  out  from  Har- 
poot  and  brought  them  safely  in.  "We  seemed  to  spend  a  long 
time  getting  here,"  writes  one  of  the  secretaries,  "but  we  feel  that 
it  has  been  time  well  spent,  for  what  we  have  learned  along  the  way 
is  going  to  be  of  great  value." 

Harp6ot  was  a  town  unique  among  all  they  had  seen.  Older 
than  the  rest,  situated  on  a  mountain  5,000  feet  high,  its  narrow 
streets  are  many  of  them  long  flights  of  steps  clinging  to  the  side  of  the 
mountain  with  the  tenacity  of  great  age.  After  the  difficulties  of 
the  journey  there  was  reward  in  finding  willing  cooperation 
among  the  personnel  of  the  Near  East  Relief  and  a  wide  field  for 
service  among  the  130  girls  in  the  Refugee  Home.  A  nucleus  of 
these  girls  who  had  formerly  attended  school  or  college,  could 
be  organized,  it  was  hoped,  as  leaders  to  help  with  the  others  and 
in  the  orphanages  where  it  was  estimated  4,000  orphans  would  be 
cared  for  during  the  winter  of  1919-20.    Aside  from  this  nucleus  of 

148 


possible  leaders  there  were  girls  of  every  description  in  the  Rescue 
Home.  Most  of  them  were  in  rags;  many  had  the  skin  diseases 
with  which  half  the  population  was  afflicted  some  had  the  awful 
"Aleppo  button",  a  terrible  sore  which  appears  on  the  face;  many 
had  diseased  eyes. 

In  view  of  these  conditions  the  obvious  duty  was  first  to  help 
the  girls  in  self-support  rather  than  in  self-development.  These 
138  girls  in  the  Rescue  Home  were  aged  anywhere  between  fifteen 
and  thirty-five,  the  average  being  eighteen.  The  rule  was  to  keep 
them  a  month  in  the  Home  before  giving  them  the  material  for 
new  clothes  because  some  of  the  girls  tried  to  run  away  after  a 
few  days  to  return  to  the  Turks.  With  the  first  of  September  a 
number  of  the  women  received  their  supply  of  cloth  for  dresses, 
and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  found  their  first  jobs  in  teaching 
these  women  how  to  make  their  new  clothes.  Many  of  them  came 
from  hard  work  in  the  field  and  knew  nothing  else.  The  dresses  as 
■finished  products  were  necessarily  crude,  but  anything  was  better 
than  the  rags  they  had  been  wearing.  Their  completed  wardrobe 
consisted  of  two  suits  of  underwear  made  of  unbleached  muslin, 
and  a  new  dress. 

The  women  had  also  to  prepare  the  food.  The  methods  were 
primitive  to  a  degree  even  antedating  the  earliest  days  of  America. 
The  grain  was  sifted  and  cleaned,  spread  out  on  the  roofs  to  dry 
and  ground  by  hand  between  two  stones,  having  an  armed  bar  to 
serve  as  a  handle.  The  stove  for  cooking  was  only  a  huge  fireplace 
with  some  stones  set  up  to  support  the  copper  kettles.  After  all 
the  work  was  done  in  the  Rescue  Home,  there  were  the  children 
in  the  orphanage  to  be  looked  out  for.  It  took  over  a  thousand 
beds  even  with  three  in  a  bed.  The  making  of  these  beds  was  there- 
fore something  of  a  chore.  A  bed  consisted  of  a  pad  stuffed  with 
wool,  with  wool  comfort  on  the  top,  and  was  spread  on  the  floor. 
After  these  duties  were  attended  to,  there  was  work  in  cleaning 
with  only  cold  water  and  no  soap,  and  in  spinning  wool  for  stock- 
ings by  the  use  of  a  spindle,  and  in  learning  lace  making  and  em- 
broidery in  a  class  provided  for  the  purpose. 

From  being  the  versatile  teacher  of  sewing,  cooking,  hand  work 
etc.,  the  two  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  had  also  to  include  in  their 
program  one  other  feature  not  usually  found  in  regular  Association 
work,  the  care  of  babies.  There  was  one  baby  in  the  home  and 
five  more  expected.  The  mothers  were  pitiable  in  their  state 
of  unwished-for  motherhood,  for  these  "Turk"  babies  of  theirs, 
whose  fathers  belonged  to  the  race  which  had  persecuted  and  tor- 
tured them  for  years  and  won  their  undying  hatred,  could  not  be  looked 
forward  to  with  anything  but  pain.  To  help  these  mothers,  the 
secretaries  brought  them  together  in  a  little  group,  gave  them 
material  from  the  market,  helped  them  cut  and  make  little  dresses 
and  through  their  interest  and  care  put  a  tiny  spark  of  courage 
and  enthusiasm  into  the  sad  faces.  The  music  of  the  victrola  as 
they  worked  helped  to  enliven  them.  To  turn  the  strong  revulsion 
of   the   mothers   into   a  love    for   children   and   to   instil   in   them   an 

149 


interest  in  their  own  babies,  was  a  task  which  took  so  much  of  the 
hearts  of  the  two  secretaries  that  in  writing  back  about  the  ar- 
rival of  babies,  they  spoke  as  fond  grandmothers  might  about  the 
"remarkable  children." 

The  unit  of  the  Near  East  Relief  in  Harpoot  voted  to  turn  over 
a  large  room  to  the  secretaries  to  be  used  as  a  club  room  as  they 
saw  fit.  Great  was  their  delight  in  finding  furniture  and  equipment 
to  make  this  room  attractive.  The  many  purposes  for  which  it 
would  be  used  added  to  the  fun  of  fitting  it  out.  A  group  of  college 
and  school  girls  had  already  been  organized  into  a  Big  Sister  Club 
with  service  to  their  people  as  its  purpose.  Their  activities  consis- 
ted of  helping  with  the  parties  for  the  women  in  the  Rescue  Homes, 
carrying  recreation  to  the  orphanage,  planning  and  making  Christ- 
mas presents  for  the  old  ladies  in  the  Old  Ladies'  Homes  and 
making  the  curtains  for  the  new  club  room  which  had  seven  splendid 
windows.  There  had  been  weekly  meetings  with  women  of  the 
Rescue  Homes.  These  meetings  were  held  in  a  big  school  room 
illuminated  under  difficulties.  Yet  one  of  the  secretaries  wrote, 
*Tt  is  the  most  inspiring  time  of  the  week  to  sit  or  stand  looking  into 
over  800  wistful  faces,  sitting  close  together  on  the  floor  (there  are  no 
chairs)  in  the  half  light  which  softens  the  rags  and  aspect  of  poverty. 
I  cannot  believe  it  is  all  because  we  are  getting  used  to  them  that 
their  faces  seem  to  hold  a  bigger  interest  in  life  than  they  did  when 
we  came  only  a  month  ago." 

fOn  September  26,  1919,  the  first  party  was  held  for  the  women 
in  the  Rescue  Home.  Games  which  have  enlivened  Associations 
all  over  America,  such  as  pinning  the  tail  on  the  donkey,  sup- 
plemented by  records  on  the  victrola  and  an  almond  hunt,  using 
the  nuts  for  refreshments,  made  the  progranD  One  of  the  women 
gave  imitations  of  some  Arab  customs  which  she  had  observed 
while  a  maid  servant  in  an  Arab  home.  Thus  the  party  was  a  great 
success,  meeting  with  enjoyment  and  response  and  cooperation. 

The  opportunity  for  a  bit  of  religious  work  came  in  connection 
with  Sunday}  School  where  each  of  the  secretaries  had  an  oppor- 
tunity for  talking  to  the  children,  telling  them  among  other  things, 
something  of  the  Boy  Scout  movement  and  connecting  it  with  life 
there.  On  Sunday  they  attended  the  Armenian  service  and  Sunday 
School  and  meeting  of  women,  but  they  understood  little  of  the 
service.  They  found  the  people  naturally  religious,  however,  and 
the  opportunity  of  saying  a  friendly  word  after  the  service  made 
their  attendance  decidedly  worth  while. 

One  of  the  secretaries  had  the  duty  of  interviewing  personally  the 
women  in  the  Home,  Their  histories  were  very  similar,  most  of 
them  having  suffered  capture  and  ill  treatment  at  the  hands  of 
the  Turks  and  having  become  hardened  in  their  ways  and  low  in 
their  ideals.  The  most  promising  of  the  younger  girls  made  able 
helpers  in  the  orphanages.  The  older  women  could  do  little  besides 
the  heavy  work  of  the  unit  and  the  coarser  kinds  of  sewing  and 
house  work.  One  unusual  case  was  that  of  a  girl  who  to  protect 
herself,  masqueraded  as  a  boy  and  fought  as  a  soldier,  working 

ISO 


sometimes  as  a  servant.  She  fled  to  the  Rescue  Home  for  protec- 
tion. Her  boyishness  both  in  appearance  and  in  mental  attitude 
made  her  very  different  from  the  other  girls. 

A  bit  of  American  war  work  was  slipped  in  between  other  duties. 
Some  American  boys  who  had  served  the  army  as  ambulance 
drivers  and  who  had  been  away  from  home  for  months  and  years 
in  some  cases  were  now  helping  with  this  relief  work  by  bringing  in 
supplies  on  auto  trucks.  They  proved  to  be  an  exceptionally  fine 
group  but  were  naturally  lonesome  and  subject  to  many  tempta- 
tions. For  these  boys,  therefore,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  found 
it  one  of  their  pleasures  to  help  in  every  possible  way  to  make 
life  happiei*  and  easier. 

The  Big  Sister  Club  in  Harpoot  had  been  so  successful  that  one 
was  organized  at  Mezerich  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  Mezerich, 
a  town  much  more  modern  than  the  ancient  city  above  it  was  the 
seat  of  the  government.  The  membership  of  these  two  clubs 
changed  as  the  girls  went  down  the  mountain  in  large  numbers 
to  attend  the  high  school  at  Mezerich.  At  Keserig  about  forty- 
five  of  the  older  girls  in  the  orphanages  were  organized  into  a  club 
holding  weekly  meetings,  which  the  two  secretaries  were  obhged 
to  reach  on  horseback,  riding  across  the  plain.  This  was  followed 
by  organizing  the  older  girls  in  two  orphanages  in  Harpoot,  about 
fifty  in  all  with  a  similar  scheme.  It  was  hoped  to  find  the  time  for 
a  weekly  meeting  likewise  in  Mezerich,  but  this  was  difficult  since 
school  lasted  until  four,  and  in  winter  five  o'clock  meant  dark, 
especially  in  a  town  which  was  absolutely  dark  at  night,  and  in  Turkey, 
which  withdraws  behind  its  own  doors  at  sundown. 

Besides  the  clubs  there  was  a  plan  of  inviting  the  women  from 
the  Rescue  Home  in  Harpoot  to  bring  their  supper  to  the  Y.  W.  C. 
A.  club  room  and  spend  a  social  time  there  from  5  to  6.  Since  most 
of  them  worked  all  day,  this  furnished  a  pleasant  change  in  recrea- 
tion. Forty  came  to  the  first  meeting.  It  was  evident  from  this 
first  experiment  that  a  wide  field  presented  itself  in  teaching  table 
manners  to  the  group.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  now  had  super- 
vision over  six  orphanages,  two  of  them  in  Harpout  itself  and  the 
other  four  in  the  village  of  Keserig  about  three  miles  distant — 
''three  down  but  at  least  ten  back  up  our  hill  with  its  forty-five 
turnings."  Another  was  at  Morenig,  a  deserted  village  a  little 
farther  away  and  in  complete  ruins  except  for  one  house  used  by 
the  orphans.  One  day  while  the  secretaries  were  visiting  the 
orphanage  at  Keserig,  and  playing  games  with  the  children,  the 
Turkish  tax  collectors  arrived  and  became  so  interested  in  watching 
the  children's  pleasure  that  they  promised  to  assess  the  property 
as  leniently  as  possible.  In  each  orphanage  were  mairigs  (Arme- 
nian for  mother)  and  koorigs  (Armenian  for  sister).  The  mairigs 
were  older  Armenian  women  who  had  charge  of  the  children 
and  the  koorigs  were  women  of  some  education,  who  acted  as 
matrons  of  the  institutions  and  were  responsible  for  the  morals  and 
training  of  the  children. 

151 


X 


In  the  Refugee  Home  there  was  likewise  a  koorig,  a  graduate  of 
Euphrates  College,  who  had  been  forced  to  marry  a  Turk,  and 
whose  tragic  face  showed  what  she  had  lived  through.  A  number 
of  helpers  for  the  orphanages  were  chosen  from  the  younger  women 
who  had  not  been  married  and  who  therefore  would  not  have  a 
bad  influence  over  the  children.  Thus  the  women  of  the  Refugee 
Home  took  the  greater  part  of  the  work  necessary  for  keeping  the 
orphanages  going. 

In  the  meantime  the  work  in  Constantinople  was  growing.  The 
report  for  the  service  center  for  August,  1919,  showed  a  member- 
ship of  511.  It  had  become  necessary  to  close  to  any  more  new 
members  until  the  present  groups  could  be  assimilated.  The  report 
on  class  registries  for  the  month  was  as  follows : 

In  12  English  classes    218 

In  3  French   classes    21 

In  1  Typewriter   class   15 

In  1  Stenography   class   10 

Total 26^ 

The  teachers  for  all  these  classes  except  Stenography  and  Type- 
writing were  volunteers,  graduates  of  Constantinople  College  or 
some  other  American  schools. 

In  addition  to  the  service. center  in  Constantinople  visits  were 
being  made  to  the  Rescue  Home  for  girls  taken  from  the  Turks 
located  in  Scutari  just  across  the  Bosphorus.  An  Armenian  local 
committee  ran  the  home  and  through  some  training,  provided  fifty- 
five  girls  with  an  outlook  toward  independence.  The  contribution 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  in  helping  organize  industrial  classes.  Two 
girls  were  weaving  at  the  American  Relief  Committee's  factories 
near  the  home ;  about  eighteen  were  learning  Armenian  lace  work  and 
embroidery ;  others  were  taking  dressmaking  or  plain  sewing.  To 
bring  the  girls  together  for  recreation  was  also  the  task  of  the  Y. 
W.  C.  A.  The  secretaries  found  their  time  well  taken  up  with 
carrying  on  the  work  of  the  service  center,  conducting  classes,  run- 
ning the  Employment  Bureau,  holding  the  Sunday  afternoon 
services,  besides  visiting  once  a  week  the  Rescue  Home. 

With  the  fall  of  1919  the  work  continued  to  grow  and  classes  took 
on  higher  standards.  An  educational  course  was  added  in  nursing 
through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Graff,  one  of  the  relief  workers  of 
the  Wellesley  unit,  with  a  view  to  providing  visiting  nurses  for 
different  sections  of  the  city.-  Such  a  splendid  opportunity  not  only 
to  help  in  relief  work  and  learn  a  valued  profession,  but  to  give  even 
to  girls  unable  to  do  work,  a  demonstration  of  what  such  work 
means,  could  not  be  overlooked. 

The  club  work  has  also  developed.  Six  clubs  had  been  organized  and 
started  by  Miss  White  with  the  assistance  of  a  teacher  at  Con- 

152 


stantinoplc    College.      These   clubs   with   their   approximate   membei 
ship  were : 

Approximate 
membership 

Golden  Link  Club   47 

Rainbow    Club   63 

Fireside    Club 30 

Sunshine    Club   39 

Star  Club   40 

Forget-me-not    Club   32 

Total    251 

In  nearly  every  case  there  was  a  waiting  list  since  the  number 
accepted  had  to  be  limited  to  the  small  size  of  the  club  assembly 
room. 

The  Fireside  Club  had  been  started  in  the  Sedik  Pasha  School 
in  Stamboul  by  Miss  Frances  Gage  several  years  before  as  the  real 
beginning  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  in  Constantinople.  This  club  now 
changed  its  meeting  place  to  the  service  center  which  opened  about 
June  1,  1919.  Its  members  represented  a  fine  type  of  girl  in  the 
east,  reliable  and  staunch,  capable  of  leadership  among  younger 
girls. 

The  Rainbow  Club  was  composed  of  students  and  graduates  of 
Constantinople  College,  girls  who  spoke  English  and  took  for  their 
particular  activity  some  athletic  work  under  the  direction  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  physical  director  with  a  view  to  preparing  them,  for 
service  along  these  lines.  Several  members  of  this  club  were  ready 
to  undertake  volunteer  work  by  the  first  of  September  in  the 
orphanages,  going  twice  a  week  to  supervise  games  with  the 
children. 

The  Golden  Link  Club  consisted  of  the  girls  who  sewed  garments 
for  the  orphans  as  their  special  service  and  supervised  the  girls 
from   other   clubs   in   this   same   work. 

The  Sunshine  Club,  true  to  its  name,  was  bringing  sunshine  to 
the  life  of  the  little  cripple  girl  wh^om  it  had  taken  under  its 
protection.  The  club  had  held  a  bazaar  in  the  middle  of  the 
summer  to  raise  money  to  buy  food  and  comforts  for  its  charge. 

The  Forget-me-not  Club  was  composed  of  girls  working  in  shops 
and  offices.  It  therefore  held  its  meetings  in  the  evening.  In 
Turkey  this  venture  into  industry  was  a  new  departure  for  girls. 
Its  possibilities  for  Association  work  were  very  great.  The  girls 
came  directly  from  a  long  day's  work  to  the  club  meeting  in  the 
evening,  which  was  recreational  in  character,  intended  for  relaxa- 
tion and  entertainment.  Since  their  hours  of  work  were  from  nine 
in  the  morning  to  seven  or  eight  in  the  evening,  it  left  little  time.  The 
noon  recesses,  however,  were  sometimes  two  hours.  Yet  in  spite 
of  their  long  hours,  these  young  girls  had  also  seen  the  joy  of  service 
and  were  asking  permission  to  give  lessons  to  some  poorer  friends, 

IS3 


too  young"  to  join  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  in  order  that  these  friends  might 
be  more  desirable  as  members  when  they  did  reach  the  entrance  age. 

With  all  these  groups  meeting  weekly,  evenings  were  a  busy 
time  at  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  center.  Classes  had  likewise  to  be  fitted 
into  the  schedule.  Saturday  evening  was  given  up  to  an  open 
house  for  the  girls  and  their  friends.  With  the  introduction  of 
chorus  singing  these  evenings  were  most  enjoyable.  The  Sunday 
afternoon  services  necessarily  varied  in  their  meeting  places  accord- 
ing to  the  program.  An  organ  recital  meant  holding  the  service  at 
Robert  College  by  dourtesy  of  the  organist.  Another  Sunday  the  en- 
tire service  center  membership  was  invited  to  tea  at  Constantinople 
College  of  which  many  of  the  girls  were  graduates.  With  the 
membership  of  more  than  500  by  the  end  of  the  summer  1919,  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  well  started  in  its  work  in  Constantinople. 

September,  1919,  brought  some  changes  in  the  personnel  of  the 
clubs.  Many  girls  had  to  return  to  school  and  leave  their  club  work 
for  a  time.  From  the  Rainbow  Club,  which  was  the  College  Club, 
all  but  twelve  of  the  members  returned  to  Constantinople  College, 
where  they  took  part  in  making  the  college  Association  a  strong 
factor.  From  other  clubs  some  girls  had  to  drop  out  with  the 
shortening  days  on  account  of  living  at  a  distance  and  because  of 
the  necessity  of  girls  being  off  the  streets  after  dark  in  Turkey. 
Club  meetings  were  moved  up  to  earlier  hours  to  accommodate  those 
who  st^ili  came.  The  places  necessarily  made  vacant  were  filled  up 
with  new  members.  But  inasmuch  as  fifty  new  girls  registered 
for  clubs  in  the  month  of  September,  1919,  there  were  more  than 
enough  to  fill  vacancies.  Two  new  clubs  were  therefore  planned, 
one  of  these  to  be  for  selected  older  girls  who  spoke  English  well, 
to  be  called  the  ''Home  Club",  and  to  be  led  by  an  enthusiastic 
young  American  woman  recently  arrived.  The  tentative  program 
included  home  hygiene,  general  care  of  the  home,  how  to  serve,  how 
to  play  the  part  of  hostess,  and  lessons  in  simple  cooking. 

The  first  big  party  was  given  on  September  2,  1919,  in  honor  of 
Mrs.  Huntington,  recently  returned  from  America.  About  two 
hundred  and  fifty  girls  were  present  to  give  her  a  "welcome  home". 
On  the  part  of  the  old  girls  who  had  known  her  in  person,  the  wel- 
come had  the  enthusiasm  of  a  valued  friendship ;  while  for  the  new 
members,  it  was  an  introduction  to  one  whom  they  had  long  known 
by  name.  Moreover,  the  party  meant  a  getting  together  of  the 
various  club  members  in  the  spirit  of  community  work  and  com- 
munity play — a  spirit  essential  to  modern  life  and  vastly  important 
in  this  formative  period  for  women  in  the  Near  East. 

The  month  of  September,  1919,  saw  also  the  arrival  of  the  first 
of  a  new  group  of  secretaries — a  unit  assigned  to  work  in  Russia, 
come  to  Constantinople  to  await  the  opportunity  for  entrance  into 
Russia  by  the  southern  route.  In  the  meantime  they  were  free  to 
help  with  the  work  in  the  Near  East.  They  were  known  as  the 
South  Russia  unit  and  kept  up  their  contact  with  Russia  through 
language  study  and  through  work  for  Russian  refugees  wherever 
they  could  be  of  service. 

154 


Chances  for  service  were  many.  Constantinople  had  become  a 
place  of  refuge  for  such  numbers  of  Russans  that  the  problems  of 
caring  for  them  were  serious.  Those  of  the  higher  classes  were 
assigned  to  Halki,  an  island  in  the  Bosphorus  formerly  a  summer 
resort.  Here  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  at  work  with  the  Service  Hut  and 
movies  by  way  of  recreation.  Other  Russian  refugees  were  housed 
in  a  former  Russian  hospital  in  Constantinople  proper,  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  promoting  school  work  for  the  children  with  teachers  re- 
cruited from  among  the  refugees  themselves.  Here  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
undertook  recreation  and  gymnasium  activities  for  some  forty 
children  two  afternoons  a  week.  An  English  class  for  adults 
proved  so  popular  that  from  a  start  of  four  members  it  grew  until 
it  had  to  be  twice  divided. 

With  the  coming  of  winter,  the  Russian  refugees  at  Halki  were 
removed  to  Constantinople  proper.  This  with  the  arrival  of  more 
refugees  from  time  to  time  kept  the  South  Russia  unit  busy  with 
work  for  Russians. 

The  approach  of  the  Christmas  season  brought  increased  activities 
all  along  the  line.  In  the  clubs  of  Constantinople  the  members  de- 
cided to  sew  for  a  bazaar,  the  proceeds  to  be  used  for  making  the 
Christmas  season  joyous  to  the  children  in  an  orphanage. 

Christmas  came  in  relays,  fortunately  for  the  workers  who  were 
thus  enabled  to  spread  their  efforts  over  more  groups.  First  came 
the  American  Christmas.  The  North  Dakota's  arrival  into  Con- 
stantinople harbor  December  24  added  1,200  men  to  the  number  of 
sailors  already  in  port.  Everything  possible  was  done  to  make  the 
season  a  happ)^  one  for  every  sailor  from  the  nine  American  ships 
in  the  harbor.  A  minstrel  show  with  caste  recruited  from  all  the 
ships  gave  two  performances,  one  on  Christmas  Eve  and  one  on 
Christmas  night.  On  Christmas  Eve  there  was  also  a  Christmas 
tree  with  packages  from  the  Red  Cross  for  all  the  boys.  This 
was  followed  by  a  dance.  On  Christmas  morning  a  group  of  the 
secretaries  with  some  teachers  from  Constantinople  College  took 
a  launch  filled  with  holly  and  went  around  to  all  the  ships,  decorated 
the  mess  tables  and  sang  carols.  Even  though  the  holly  was  but 
the  Turkish  equivalent  of  the  genuine  American  product,  the  spirit 
of  the  occasion  was  very  genuine,  and  the  efforts  of  the  group  won 
the  appreciation  of  the  men. 

Following  the  American  Christmas,  came  the  Russian,  Greek  and 
Armenian  Christmas.  On  the  Russian  Christmas,  January  7,  1920, 
the  little  Russian  refugee  children  isolated  in  hospital  and  monastery 
were  especially  remembered.  Since  the  greatest  need  was  for  cloth- 
ing, something  useful  and  warm,  two  pairs  of  stockings  were  given  to 
each  child  known  to  be  in  want.  All  the  children  in  hospital  and 
monastery,  a  total  of  about  eighty-five,'  were  given  bags  (made 
from  the  secretaries'  allotment  of  mosquito  netting)  filled  with 
candy,  nuts  and  fruit.  A  Christmas  tree  attended  by  a  real  flesh 
and  blood  Santa  Claus  added  to  the  fun.  This  was  a  novelty  to  the 
little  Russian,  and  when  popcorn  balls  were  added,  their  excitement 
was  complete.    A  party  with  games  and  folk  dances  and  music  on 

ISS 


the  victrola,  and  most  important  of  all — real  refreshments  of  cocoa, 
home  made  cakes  and  sandwiches,  completed  the  good  times.  The 
presen'ce  of  the  parents  made  it  a  family  gathering  with  a  round  of 
tea  drinking  to  celebrate. 

Christmas  in  Scutari  was  also  the  happiest  event  of  the  month 
for  sixty  girls  in  the  Rescue  Home.  An  afternoon  was  given  up  to 
games,  a  Christmas  tree  and  music  on  the  victrola.  In  writing 
of  this  afternoon's  party,  Miss  White,  says,  "The  most  hopeful  sign 
of  progress  to  us  is  the  response  we  are  getting  from  the  girls  who 
seem  so  much  more  normal  and  like  other  girls  than  when  we  first 
went  over  there."  The  results  of  the  work  in  the  Home  were  be- 
ginning to  show  in  definite  ways  from  the  work  of  the  new  sewing 
teacher  who  was  giving  special  time  and  training  to  twelve  girls 
who  had  begun  to  take  orders  for  outside  sewing,  to  the  work  on  em- 
broidery which  was  supervised  by  a  young  lady  employed  particu- 
larly for  that.  Through  work  as  well  as  through  play,  these  girls 
of  the  Rescue  Home  were  taking  a  new  interest  in  life,  as  was 
evident  at  the  Christmas  party. 

Christmas  came  likewise  with  joy  on  the  lofty  mountain  of  Har- 
poot.  The  two  secretaries  originally  sent  out  to  Harpoot  had  been 
divided  at  their  own  suggestion,  one  of  them  to  go  to  Arabkir  be- 
cause of  the  great  need  there.  This  journey  from  Harpoot  to 
Arabkir  had  taken  place  the  first  week  of  November,  1919,  and 
had  meant  three  days  of  traveling  horseback  in  a  caravan  consist- 
ing mostly  of  mules  with  the  supplies,  and  two  nights  on  the  way 
at  a  Turkish  khahn,  typical  of  the  Oriental  life  on  the  road.  Their 
arrival  in  Arabkir  had  been  on  Saturday,  November  8,  and  on  Sun- 
day morning  the  Armenian  feminine  population  of  the  town  called 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  newcomers.  Although  a  beautiful  city, 
rich  in  autumn  foliage  at  that  time  and  well  supplied  with  mountain 
streams,  Arabkir  had  suffered  greatly  during  the  war  years  not 
only  from  lack  of  supplies,  but  from  isolation  and  ignorance  of 
what  was  going  on  in  the  outside  world.  Work  among  these  women 
must  therefore  be  taken  up  slowly  in  order  that  prejudice  and  con- 
servatism might  be  overcome. 

The  Near  East  Relief  had  provided  for  100  orphans  in  Arabkir 
and  additional  funds  for  supervising  a  girls'  orphanage  of  120,  a 
boys'  building  with  seventy  and  about  100  children  who  lived  at 
home,  but  received  money,  bread  or  clothes  or  all  three.  Other 
cases  of  need  were  relieved.  In  this  work  of  relief  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
secretaries  came  to  take  a  large  share  as  well  as  to  engage  in  more 
personal  and  recreational  work  with  small  groups. 

On  November  19,  1919,  in  Arabkir  the  first  group  had  met  for 
a  little  party.  This  group  consisted  of  the  teachers  who  spoke  a 
little  English,  two  of  them  graduates  of  Euphrates  College  in  Har- 
poot. Glad  of  this  opportunity  for  talking  over  their  problems 
which  were  many,  they  readily  spoke  of  their  discouragements 
and  lack  of  everything — books,  paper,  repairs  on  buildings,  clothes 
and  nourishment  for  the  children  in  their  charge.  Games  wei'e 
played  which  they  might  later  teach  to  children  and  cocoa  was 

156 


served — something  entirely  new  to  them.  In  the  interest  and  fun 
of  this  afternoon  frolic,  one  of  them  broke  down  and  cried,  saying 
that  she  had  not  laughed  like  this  sin'ce  before  the  war.  Thus  was 
presented  to  the  mind  of  the  secretaries  the  great  need  for  recrea- 
tion among  these  mentally,  as  well  as  bodily  starved  people.  She 
had  planned  for  the  teachers  to  come  together  every  two  weeks 
for  recreation.  In  the  meantime  she  would  help  them  organize  play 
with  the  children. 

Another  group  to  which  she  planned  giving  her  attention  were 
the  older  girls  of  the  orphanage.  The  third  group  would  be  the 
mairigs  in  charge  of  the  children  at  the  orphanage.  Endless  pos- 
sibilities presented  themselves  in  the  villages  r0und  about  which 
might  be  reached  by  a  day's  horseback  trip.  In  writing  back  her 
report  of  all  th<!s  work,  the  secretary  says,  "There  is  undoubtedly 
a  place  for  our  organization.  For  the  present  if  we  can  help  in 
making  the  relief  work  more  constructive,  our  coming  will  not  have 
been  in  vain." 

After  a  month  in  the  isolated  center  of  Arabkir,  this  secretary 
was  therefore  glad  to  return  for  Christmas  to  Harpoot — Harpoot 
which  might  seem  to  many  Americans  the  end  of  nowhere!  Hei 
great  desire  was  to  get  away  from  "unbleached  muslin",  for  the 
relief  work  had  been  in  such  a  pioneer  state  in  Arabkir  that  hours 
had  been  spent  in  meeting  the  clothing  problem :  274  outside  poor, 
145  outside  orphans,  forty-five  children  working  in  the  spinning 
shop,  were  given  enough  cloth  for  one  suit  of  underwear.  It  is  no 
wonder  therefore  that  she  writes.  December  22,  I  went  to  Harpoot 
for  Christmas.  Besides  feeling  the  need  of  getting  away  from  all 
this  for  a  few  days,  it  seemed  advii sable  for  the  good  of  the  work  to 
appeal  for  further  supplies  in  person ;  and  as  the  Armenian  Christmas 
does  not  come  until  the  19th  of  January,  it  did  not  seem  such  deser- 
tion of  duty. 

'T  could  see  a  great  improvement  in  the  girls  with  whom  Miss 
Jones  has  been  working  (in  Harpoot).  I  spoke  at  the  meeting  at 
the  Rescue  Home  on  New  Years  J)ay.  While  there  I  helped  Miss 
Niles,  a  graduate  of  Simmons,  in  supervising  a  stag  dinner  by  the 
Near  East  Relief  unit  to  Turkish  officials.  I  have  come  back 
recreated  in  body  and  spirit  ready  to  face  the  three  long  winter 
months  in  this  isolated  spot." 

After  Christmas  at  Harpoot,  there  were  the  Armenian  New  Years 
on  January  14,  and  the  Armenian  Christmas  on  January  19  to 
celebrate  all  over  again  in  Arabkir.  Therefore,  the  routine  life  of 
the  center  was  more  or  less  upset  for  a  good  part  of  the  month  of 
January,  1920.  The  Christmas  program  was  held  in  the  Gregorian 
Church.  It  was  the  first  celebration  since  before  the  war  and  many 
of  the  children  had  never  seen  a  Santa  Claus.  His  appearance, 
therefore,  with  small  remembrances  for  each  child,  filled  them  with 
great  excitement.  i^Tjti^'iittle  children  enjoyed  games  and  the  girls 
in  the  Rescue  Home  listened  to  a  little  talkl^7 

157 


Following    Christmas    the    regular    work    continued    in  Arabkir, 
progressing  slowly  yet  on  sure  foundations.     The  group  of  teachers 
met  once  a  week  now  with  the  study  of  English  for  part  of  their 
program,  followed  by  games  and  simple  refreshments.     Such  oc- 
cupations as  the  cutting  out  of  pictures  from  old  magazines  to  make 
scrap  books  for  the  school,  furnished  topics  for  endless  conver- 
sation in  the  group  and  gave  the  secretary  an  opportunity  to  deal 
constructively  with  some  of  the  problems  that  were  puzzling  their 
minds,  as  every  picture  called  for  an  explanation.     Another  group 
was  formed  for  girls  of  thirteen,  fourteen  and  fifteen,  known  as 
the  Happiness  or  Blue  Bird  Club.    The  ambition  of  these  girls  was 
y^to  learn  to  make  lace.     Therefore,  lace  making  was  the  beginning 
I      of  the  program,  to  be  supplemented  later  by  more  practical  lessons 
/       such  as  cooking,  learning  to  make  Chourba   (their  soup),  lessons 
V       in  first  aid,  plain  sewing  and  after  the  spring  days  came  some  na- 
\     ture  study  out  of  doors.     Another  group  of  girls,  a  bit  older,  six- 
\  teen  to  nineteen  was  to  meet  weekly  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to 
/^  organize  them.     This  club  work  along  with  the  work  of  relief  in 
(       connection  with  the  Near  East  Relief  more  than  filled  the  time  of 
\     the  one  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  in  the  far  off  center  of  Arabkir. 

The  winter  of  1919-20  was  a  busy  one  for  all  relief  and  social 
workers  in  the  Near  East.  Constantinople  in  these  restless  days 
was  the  cosmopolitan  scene  of  more  than  usual  interaction  among 
peoples ;  the  coming  and  going  of  Americans,  the  seething  of  more 
bounded  national  groups  and  the  cries  of  need  from  the  suffering 
hordes.  The  call  for  workers,  therefore,  extended  to  missionaries 
resident  in  the  Near  East,  to  this  new  group  of  relief  workers  and 
to  these  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  who  building  on  the  foundations 
of  the  work  begun  in  the  time  of  Miss  Gage,  were  eager  not  only  to 
assist  in  the  present  crisis  by  meeting  emergencies  in  cooperation 
with  the  other  organizations,  but  also  to  gain  new  footholds  for 
future  permanent  work  in  the  line  of  Association  activities. 

One  of  the  emergencies  which  they  could  meet  in  Constantinople  was 
in  using  the  old  building  of  the  Association,  which  had  become 
their  residence,  as  a  hostel-  to  help  in  housing  some  of  the  tran- 
sients who  were  constantly  going  through.  Great  use  was  found 
for  such  a  place. 

This  helping  of  American  women  was  a  very  small  part  of  the  work, 
for  the  girls  who  claimed  the  greatest  befriending  were  of  the 
varied  nationalities  of  the  Near  East,  Greek,  Turk  and  Armenian 
predominating.  The  problem  of  dealing  tactfully  and  peaceably 
with  such  mingled  groups  required  advice  from  residents  of  long 
standing  in  the  Near  East.  A  national  committee  had  therefore 
been  formed  in  the  fall  of  1919  under  Mrs.  Huntington's  direction 
to  act  in  an  advisory  capacity. 

In  Constantinople  the  mixture  of  nationalities  was  greatest.  The 
report  for  January  showed  the  service  center  membership  to  be 
distributed  as  follows:  255  Armenians,  144  Greeks,  108  Jews,  two 
Syrians,  seven  Americans,  eight  Turks,  four  British,  five  Russians 
and  seven  French.    This  meant  that  nearly  half  were  Armenians, 

158 


about  one-fourth  were  Greeks,  with  the  Jewish  girls  bringing  up  a  close 
second  to  the  Greeks.  It  was  natural  for  the  Armenians  to  seek 
the  Associatjion  in  greater  numbers  than  the  others,  since  they  had 
been  brought  up  Christians.  The  old  enmity  between  Armenian  and 
Turk,  and  Greek  and  Turk  would  crop  out  at  times,  but  in  such  a  cos- 
mopolitan center  as  Constantinople  the  group  worked  together  fairly 
well.     Class  registration  for  January  1920  showed : 

15  classes  in  English   237 

2  classes  in  French   15 

2   classes  in  Stenography 15 

1  class  in  Social  Work   10 

Total  277 

In  addition  to  these,   three   small   Bible   classes   were  begun   that 
month  with  Mrs.  Huntington  leading  one. 

Next  to  Constantinople,  the  most  strategic  point  for  work  was 
Smyrna  with  a  population  of  400,000  including  a  distinct  class  of 
wealth  and  leisure,  and  with  a  group  of  American  school  graduates 
to  draw  on,  the  opportunities  for  work  in  Smyrna  were  such  that 
from  the  first  coming  to  the  Near  East  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  sec- 
retaries, organization  in  that  city  had  been  a  part  of  the  plan.  Be- 
fore the  war  there  had  been  10,000  women  and  girls  in  industry, 
employed  in  textile  and  tobacco  factories  and  in  fruit  work  during  f 
the  season.  The  needs  for  work  in  Smyrna  were  similar  to  those  /\ 
in  Constantino^JTe ;  girls  having  come  out  of  the  exclusiveness  of  their  X 
former  life  desired  nothing  so  much  as  to  be  like  Europeans  or 
Americans.  The  new  liberties  of  the  period  of  reconstruction  re 
quired  new  lessons  in  the  hard  matter:  of  readjustment.  It  was  I 
here  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  sought  to  be  oTTielp?^ 


Although  Smyrna  had  early  been  put  on  the  list,  it  was  not  until 
'.December,  1919  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  able  to  send  two  sec- 
retaries there  to  make  the  opening.  They  soon  found  that  less  of  the 
cosmopolitan  feeling  could  enter  into  the  work  at  Smyrna  and  that 
more  tact  must  be  used  in  an  organization  which  brought  together 
women  of  antagonistic  national  groups.  The  beginnings  were 
made  in  a  small  way  by  gaining  the  friendship  of  the  people,  in- 
viting in  little  circles  for  work  or  discussion  and  in  gradually  put- 
ting before  them  the  ideals  with  which  the  Association  had  come 
into  their  midst.  After  two  months  of  work,  February  found  a 
membership  of  forty-three  which  grew  that  month  to  125.  Thirty- 
two  were  enrolled  in  classes  and  thirty-six  in  clubs.  The  classes 
included,  English,  French,  piano,  dressmaking  and  typewriting. 
With  this  as  a  beginning,  plans  were  made  to  hold  an'  opening  re- 
ception which  took  place  on  February  26,  1920,  a  day  which 
dawned  as  beautiful  as  it  was  auspicious.  It  was  a  great  opening. 
By  five  o'clock  all  of  the  seats  in  the  large  assembly  room  belong- 
ing to  the  building  were  filled  and  many  people  were  standing 
outside.    The  estimated  attendance  was  500. 

159 


The  program,  carefully  planned,  consisted  of  an  opening  address 
by  the  American  Consul  General  and  brief  words  of  gfreeting  from : 
an  Armenian,  a  Greek,  a  Jew  and  a  Turk,  taking  them  in  the  order 
they  came  alphabetically. 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  declare  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  officially 
open  and  ready  for  .business,"  were  the  Consul's  opening  remarks. 

''The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  penetrated  into  many  countries  of  the 
world.  It  is  peculiarly  needed  for  a  city  like  Smyrna  where  young 
girls  have  not  so  many  fields  of  activities  and  healthful  interests 
as  in  European  countries.  You  all  know  very  well  that  many  girls 
in  the  Near  East  have  nothing  to  talk  about  and  think  about  ex- 
cept their  clothes  and  their  chances  of  getting  married.  {The  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  with  its  many  educational  classes  and  its  varied  acttvities,  will 
give  you  many  things  to  do  and  to  think  and  talk  about  and  will 
broaden  you  intellectually  and  morally  and  will  make  you  better 
and  more  useful  women  as  well  as  more  happy  and  contented.  At 
this  critical  moment  of  regeneration,  of  new  birth  for  the  world, 
womankind  must  come  forward  with  the  best  that  it  has  to  offer. 
It  is  the  object  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  discover,  to  develop,  and  to 
get  into  action,  that  best.^ 

In  writing  to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  the 
Consul  said,  "It  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  demonstrations 
that  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  Near  East,  the  more  remarkable 
because  hitherto  hostile  races  and  religious  sects  joined  in  this 
work."  This  'comment  seems  demonstrated  in  the  personnel  of  the 
reception.  Following  the  Consul,  the  Armenian  Archbishop  spoke 
in  Armenian,  the  Greek  Archbishop  spoke  in  Greek,  a  representa* 
tive  of  the  Jewish  community  lauded  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
in  French,  and  Rachmey  Bey  spoke  in  Turkish  for  the  Turks  of  the 
city,  taking  the  place  of  the  Turkish  governor  of  the  province,  who 
was  ill  and  could  not  be  present,  but  who  sent  word  he  intended  to 
have  his  wife  and  daughters  become  members.  The  audience  pre- 
sented a  variegated  appearance,  the  red  fez  of  a  Turk  side  by  side 
with  a  black  headdress  of  an  Armenian  or  Greek  Bishop ;  diplomats, 
church  dignitaries,  naval  officers,  military  men  of  different 
countries,  business  men,  reporters,  mothers,  missionaries,  teachers, 
factory  girls,  refugees,  students  and  young  women  of  leisure,  all 
of  these  gathered  together  to  show  their  interest  in  the  work  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  Three  troops  of  Greek  Boy  Scouts  acted  as  ushers; 
Armenian  Boy  Scouts  assisted  in  other  ways.  Five  of  the  leading 
newspapers — ^Greek,  Armenian,  Jewish,  French  and  Turkish, 
heralded  the  event  with  free  notices. 

Following  the  opening  the  membership  reached  132  and  forty 
girls  enrolled  in  industrial  clubs.  The  Smyrna  Service  Center  had 
grown  in  the  six  short  weeks  since  the  American  secretaries  came, 
to  be  a  place  of  great  use  in  the  community.  To  take  a  typical  Saturday 
afternoon  as  evidence  of  its  use,  a  secretary  describes  it:  "I  counted 
thirty-five  in  the  reading  room  a  few  minutes  ago.  A  group  of 
girls  are  gathered  around  the  piano  singing  some  of  the  old  favorite 
songs;    others    were    playing    dominos    or    checkers;    three    or    four 

i6o 


studious  ones  are  looking  up  words  in  the  dictionary,  trying;  tc 
increase  their  EngHsh  vocabulary,  and  quite  a  few  other  girls  are 
deep  in  story  books  or  magazines.  A  few  have  just  dropped  in  to 
visit  the  other  girls.  The  girls  feel  that  it  is  their  Association  and 
their  club  room  and  so  many  have  said  that  it  fills  a  big  need.  'I 
do  not  know  what  we  did  before  the  service  center  was  opened. 
Now  we  spend  most  of  our  time  here.' "  It  was  planned  to  open  a  tea 
room  in  order  further  to  serve  the  women  and  girls,  who  like  to 
drop  in  to  meet  their  friends  or  who  came  from  out  of  town  and 
had  no  place  else  to  go. 

Along  with  the  other  work  of  relief,  recreation  and  reconstruc- 
tion, the  South  Russian  unit  was  doing  its  bit  toward  helping  Russian 
refugees.  Reenforcements  arrived  for  the  South  Russia  unit  in 
March,  1919,  other  secretaries  waiting  and  hoping  for  the  oppor- 
tunity of  getting  into  Russia  in  the  meantime  eager  to  share  in  the 
important  work  at  hand.  One  of  these  writing  from  Constanti- 
nople under  date  of  April  1st  says,  "We  had  only  been  in  Constanti- 
nople a  week  when  we  were  summoned  to  go  immediately  to 
Proti,  one  of  the  Princess  Islands  in  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  to  help 
the  Near  East  Relief  care  for  the  Russian  refugees  there.  We  ar- 
rived on  the  Island  in  a  ragmg  snow  storm,  the  boat  with  the 
refugees  lying  at  anchor  a  short  distance  from  shore.  We  were  in- 
formed that  those  who  were  well  and  able  to  come  would  be 
brought  ashore  that  night  as  conditions  on  the  boat  were  very  bad 
-typhus  having  broken  out,  and  many  were  sick  from  insufficient 
food  or  wounds  received  from  the  fighting  just  before  leaving 
Odessa."  In  the  face  of  these  winter  conditions,  the  summer  hous- 
ing facilities  and  winter  heating  difficulties,  the  task  of  caring  for 
the  refugees  was  a  strenuous  one.  After  they  came  ashore  they 
were  given  registration  cards,  hot  tea  and  sandwiches,  assigned  to 
one  of  the  three  hospitals  or  to  the  monastery  and  to  a  bed  as  long 
as  beds  lasted,  after  that  to  a  place  on  the  floor. 

"Work  as  hard  as  we  could,  it  was  impossible  to  keep  ahead  of 
the  stretcher  cases  that  came  one  after  the  other,  until  the  whole 
floor  was  covered  with  them.  The  patient  on  one  of  the  last  to 
arrive  was  entirely  covered  by  a  blanket.  The  nurses  lifted  the 
corner  and  exclaimed,  'Good  gracious,  it's  a  baby!'  The  father,  a 
tall  Russian  officer  brought  up  the  rear,  leading  two  kiddies  by  the 
hand  and  explained  in  good  English  that  the  baby  had  been  born 
aboard  the  boat,  and  was  in  need  of  medical  attention.  The  interest 
of  the  whole  hospital  was  centered  immediately  on  that  little  mite 
of  humanity  who  came  into  the  world  under  such  trying  circum- 
stances. A  separate  room  was  provided  for  the  family,  where  they 
lived  happily  until  the  father,  through  insufficient  food  and  ex- 
posure contracted  typhus.  The  fame  of  the  family  had  spread 
through  the  Island  and  many  were  the  inquiries  about  the  father 
and  bread-earner.  Fortunately  he  pulled  through  and  is  able  to  be 
up  and  around  again." 

The  assistance  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  emergency  work  such  as 
ihis  was  of  great  value  to  the  Near  East  Relief.     Major  Arnold 

i6i 


expressed  his  thanks  in  a  letter  written  to  the  Near  East  Relief 
Headquarters  in  New  York,  as  follows;  "Fortunately,  there  is  in 
Constantinople  a  Russian  unit  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  We  asked  them 
if  they  would  like  to  cooperate  in  this  Russian  relief;  they  eagerly 
accej)ted  and  at  the  present  time  the  whole  Russian  unit  is  on  the 
Island  working  hard  in  close  cooperation  with  us.  Several  of  them 
speak  Russian  and  they  are  very  helpful.  Will  you  say  to  the  Y. 
W.  C.  A.  that  Major  Arnold  says  everyone  of  them  is  an  A-No.  1 
worker  and  we  are  glad  to  have  them." 

Besides  assisting  in  this  emergency  work  the  members  of  the 
South  Russia  unit  did  their  share  in  service  centers  and  club  work 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Some  of  them  helped  with  the  clubs  in  Constan- 
tinople ;  others  were  sent  to  distant  centers.  About  the  first  of 
April  two  secretaries  went  to  Beirut,  Syria,  to  open  up  a  service 
center  in  that  important  city. 

Other  openings  were  made  by  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  of  service 
centers  at  Talas,  Adana  and  Marsovan.  Sivas  had  a  Rescue  Home 
to  which  two  secretaries  had  been  sent  in  August,  1919,  and  where 
they  were  continuing  their  Avork  of  helping  with  the  women  in  the 
Home  providing  recreation  and  other  activities  found  to  be  so  valu- 
able a  contribution  to  the  life  in  the  home.  In  the  course  of  the 
winter  of  1920  the  Near  East  secretaries  were  visited  by  Miss  Marcia 

Dunham,  representing  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  Miss  Grace 
Saunders  of  the  World's  Committee,  both  of  whom  approved  heartily 
of  the  work  established  and  gave  great  encouragement  to  the  secre- 
taries engaged  in  it. 

On  Monday,  March  1,  a  new  service  center  was  opened  at  19 
rue  Sira  Selvi,  Taxim,  Pera.  600  members  were  already 
registered  at  this  center  with  about  300  enrolled  for  class  work. 
Ten  clubs  were  running  with  three  or  four  new  ones  demanded  for 
the  near  future.  It  was  hoped  also  to  do  much  in  the  line  of  physi- 
cal education  in  the  large  room  so  well  adapted  for  a  gymnasium 
at  the  other  end  of  the  hall  from  the  ample  club  room  overlooking 
the  Bosphorus. 

There  had  not  been  much  work  for  the  cafeteria  director  except 
in  experimenting  with  Oriental  foods  and  housekeeping  methods  and  in 
helping  out  in  other  lines  of  relief.  It  was  therefore  of  interest  to  her 
as  well  as  to  many  girls  resident  in  Constantinople  that  a  tea  room 
could  at  last  be  opened,  with  a  lunch  room  soon  to  follow.  April  5,  1920. 
was  a  blustery  day,  but  the  girls  who  came  to  eat  their  cakes  and 
cookies  and  tea  were  delighted  with  the  new  venture.  The  habit 
of  many  years  of  carrying  cold  lunches  would  be  difficult  to  over- 
come, but  a  pleasant  new  meeting  place  with  warm  food  gave 
promise  of  filling  a  real  need  in  life  of  the  girls  of  the  stores  in  Con- 
stantinople. 

By  the  first  of  May,  1920  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  operating  in  eleven 
centers  in  the  Near  East  with  nineteen  secretaries  including  those 
taken  over  from  the  Russian  group.  These  were  scattered  from  Con- 
stantinople eastward  as  far  as  Harpoot  and  south  to  Beirut  in  work 

162 


as  varied  as  that  of  club  activities  in  connection  with  service  centers^ 
and  recreation   and    industrial    work    in   connection    with    Rescue 
Homes  and  orphanages.     Cooperation  in  actual  relief  work,  distri- 
bution of  supplies  was  also  carried  on  in  connection  with  the  Neaj; 
East  Relief.     Every  form  of  service  in  the  Near  East  at  this  time 
cannot  but  have  its  influence  on  thousands  of  women  and  girls  as 
they  emerge  from  a  past  where  seclusion  has  kept  them  in  a  con- 
stant state  of  suppression,  toward  a  future  whose  opportunities  look 
out  on  a  life  as  new  as  it  will  be  full  of  aggression  for  them.    Their 
day  of  release  hasoome.    Yet  the  sudden  change  has  not  been  ac- 
cepted entirely.  ^^Id  women  working  in  the  fields  are  careful  to 
keep  their  faces  ccrvered  especially  when  a  stranger  comes  in  sight. 
Young  girls  released  from  Turkish  captivity,  of  life  in  the  harems, 
are  unable  to  face  the  world  outside  and  sometimes  fly  back  to 
the  only  refuge   they  know — slavery.     On   the  other  hand   some 
women  of  the  Near  East  are  a^rcepting  their  liberties  too  rashly  and^ 
running  ahead  of  education.  fTo  them  the  steadying  hand  of  friend^ 
ship  and  interest  must  be  outsfTetched.    The  veils  from  their  faces  have  \ 
been  lifted;  the  veils  of  their  minds  must  also  be  torn  away.     In  this 
work  for  women,  it  is  women  who  must  take  the  leading  part.    No   / 
opportunity  that  opens  out  before  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  more  appeal- / 
ing  than  that  in  the  Near  E^3  >/ 


163 


General  Report 

IN  Service  for  the  Girls  of  the  World,"  the  war-time  slogan  of 
the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  is  the  expression  not  only  of  a 
war-work  policy,  but  also  of  a  permanent  purpose  which  has 
endured  for  half  a  century.  The  Great  War  was  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons nor  of  organizations.  That  organization,  like  that  person,  which 
was  able  to  stand  up  under  the  strain  and  stress,  as  under  the  changes 
and  challenges  of  war  work,  was  called  out  to  serve  to  the  limit  of  its 
capacity.  Not  solely  stability  of  purpose,  but  also  adaptability  of 
method  were  the  requirements.  Opportunities  come  not  so  much  to 
those  who  are  waiting  as  to  those  who  are  ready.  Preparedness  in 
terms  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  meant  a  background  of  fifty  years  of  piling 
up  experiences  in  the  service  of  women  and  girls  through  the  pro- 
motion of  activities  for  the  development  of  the  abundant  life,  physic- 
ally, mentally,  spiritually.  It  meant  serving  young  women  wherever 
they  were  gathered  together  in  cities,  towns  or  country  places ;  in 
factories,  schools  or  colleges;  in  Association  buildings  equipped  with 
gymnasium,  swimming  pool,  cafeteria,  or  in  small  improvised  club 
room.  Wherever  the  work  was  carried  the  idea  of  service  was  caught 
up  by  the  members.  It  meant,  moreover,  reaching  out  beyond  the 
confines  of  America  to  establish  Associations  in  India,  China,  Japan 
and  South  America. 

It  was  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  therefore,  prepared,  equipped,  already  in 
service,  with  a  whole  world  for  its  horizon,  that  the  call  came  for  the 
war  work  not  only  in  America,  but  in  the  countries  of  Europe,  where 
women  were  living  and  working  in  an  atmosphere  of  war  and  danger 
that  produced  a  crisis  in  social  problems  affecting  the  whole  world. 
It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  War  Work  Council  should  include 
as  one  of  its  committees  a  Committee  on  Work  in  Other  Countries, 
later  known  as  the  Overseas  Committee..  To  this  Committee  came 
the  appeals  for  assistance.  The  call  was  not  so  much  to  meet  a  critical 
situation  by  extraordinary  means  as  to  help  solve  the  problem  of  the 
ages,  made  critically  acute  by  vivid  concentration  in  a  moment  of  time. 
Unselfish  Christian  service  was  the  aim, — the  method,  the  simple 
process  of  meeting  girls  where  thev^e  and  leading  them  out  into  the 
larger  place  under  brighter  skies.  U£  the  war  was  to  make  the  world 
^Ji/safe  for  democracy,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  to  help  in  the  interpretation 
^yoi  democracy..     The  secret  of  success  lay  not  in  working  for  girls, 

164 


i6s 


but  in  working  zuith  theni>J\Thus  the  spirit  of  the  Association  in 
America  was  carried  overseas^ 

Russia 

The  first  calls  came  from  Russia  and  France.  In  Russia  a  group 
of  representative  women,  who  had  known  the  Association  in  America, 
saw  in  it  the  agency  best  adapted  to  meet  the  war  need  among  Russian 
girls  through  a  program  of  activities  similar  to  those  in  a  modern 
city  Association.  When  in  April,  1917,  a  secretary  was  sent  it  was 
these  women  who  welcomed  her,  introduced  her  to  their  problem, 
served  as  advisers  and  committee  members,  and  watched  over  the  de- 
velopment of  centers  in  Petrograd  and  Moscow,  and  continued  their 
interest  even  after  the  work  was  formally  discontinued  through  the 
rigors  of  war  that  necessitated  the  withdrawal  of  American  secretaries. 
From  April,  1917,  to  September,  1919,  work  was  carried  on  intermit- 
tently in  Petrograd,  Moscow,  Samara  and  Archangel.  The  whole 
Russian  situation  was  studied.  Eighty  towns  and  villages  along  the 
Volga  River  were  touched  lin  a  cooperative  scheme  with  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  by  which  a  boat  carrying  a  welfare  expedition  toured  the  river. 
With  a  steadiness  of  purpose  in  the  midst  of  unsteadiness  of  circum- 
stances, varying  from  shell  fire  to  random  shots,  and  from  hearty 
Russian  receptions  to  hasty  military  evacuations,  the  foundations  for 
Association  work  in  Russia  were  laid.  The  American  secretaries,  who 
in  the  spirit  of  their  pioneer  counted  it  a  privilege  to  serve  in  those 
days,  formed  friendships  that  became  a  link  in  a  permanent  bond  of 
American  work  for  Russia,  which,  it  was  firmly  believed,  would  see 
results  in  future  days.  The  goings  and  comings  of  the  secretaries 
were  noted  not  only  by  the  Russian  girls,  whose  lives  they  had  bright- 
ened through  club  work,  but  also  by  some  American  soldiers  in  the 
north,  for  whom  they  had  carried  on  Hostess  House  activities  in 
Archangel. 

France 

In  France  the  work  was  begun  in  August,  1917,  with  the  arrival  of 
the  first  three  secretaries  to  study  the  situation.  The  outgrowth  was 
a  work  for  American  women  consisting*  of  Hostess  Hiouses,  Signal 
Corps  Houses,  Nurses'  Clubs  and  all  their  associated  activities,  and 
a  work  for  French  women  consisting  of  organization  of  Foyers 
des  Alliees,  first  in  munition  factories  where  women  worked,  and  later 
extended  into  cities  and  towns  throughout  the  provinces.  In  its  con- 
tribution to  the  war  situation  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  held  a  unique  place 
among  the  war-working  agencies.  It  was  the  only  American  organi- 
zation overseas  working  strictly  for  women.  As  such,  it  engaged  in 
work  which  would  not  otherwise  have  been  done,  and  through  its  care 
for  the  welfare  of  women — war  workers  of  all  American  organiza- 
tions, munition  workers  in  the  French  factories  and  other  women, 
transient  lor  permanent,  whose  lives  were  affected  in  greater  or  lesser 
degree  by  the  war — the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  made  possible  a  higher  degree 
of  efficiency  in  the  more  direct  war  activities.     The  American  army, 

i66 


the  French  government,  the  poilu  in  the  trenches,  felt  an  added  se- 
curity in  the  thought  that  a  woman's  organization  was  in  France  at 
work,  quietly  and  surely,  for  the  welfare  of  women. 

One  direct  result  of  the  war  work  of  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in 
France  has  been  the  growth  of  a  spirit  of  permanent  cooperation  and 
ideals  among  women's  organizations  of  France.  The  Foyers  des  Alliees 
and  its  allied  activities,  from  being  a  war  emergency  work,  grew  into 
a  definite  peace-time  social  work,  with  activities  and  centers  extending 
iiito  the  reconstruction  work  of  the  devastated  and  liberated  regions 
of  the  n^orth  of  France.  In  Paris  one  large  demonstration  center  has 
developed,  typifying  what  a  modern  city  Association  can  mean  in  the 
heart  of  Paris.  Out  of  the  pioneer  Hostess  House  has  grown  an 
American  Women's  Club,  to  bind  together  American  women  resident 
in  Paris  in  the  permanent  interest  oi-.a_  social  and  social  service 
agency  in  a  great  cosmopolitan  center.  L^any  indirect  results  of  the 
war  work  are  noted  in  an  increased  loyalty  among  American  women 
served  overseas  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  and  in  the  bond  of  union  be- 
tween French  and  American  women,  working  together  for  the  wider 
circles  of  women  in  Frano^. 

Italy 

In  Italy,  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  responded  to  a  call  for  work 
among  Italian  women  similar  to  that  carried  on  for  French  women, 
by  sending  early  in  1919  some  American  secretaries  to  cooperate  with 
the  Italian  organization  in  centers  already  established,  and  to  open 
new  war  emergency  centers  where  necessary.  These  centers  consisted 
of  student  hostels  greatly  enlarged  in  scope  to  meet  war  conditions, 
club  and  foyer  work  in  industrial  and  business  communities.  Hostess 
House  and  rest  room  activities  in  certain  centers  of  travel,  programs 
of  recreation,  and  special  kinds  of  work  adapted  to  the  emergency 
found  in  the  port  cities  of  Italy.  In  the  face  of  difficulties  and  changes 
as  great  as  in  any  country  in  Europe,  and  a  consequent  restlessness 
among  the  people,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  making  a  contribution  by  intro- 
ducing at  this  critical  time  a  constructive  program  for  women  and 
girls.    As  the  program  is  far-seeing,  so  the  results  will  be  far-felt. 

Near  East 

The  Near  East  as  a  field  for  work  was  not  unknown  to  the  Ameri- 
can Y.  W.  C.  A.  Through  secretaries  sent  in  1913  and  continuing 
after  the  war  had  started,  a  beginning  had  been  made  among  girls  in 
Turkey.  When  there  came  appeals  to  meet  the  unprecedented  situa- 
tion among  women  growing  out  of  the  war,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  in  co- 
operation with  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  the  Near  East, 
sent  a  secretary  in  March,  1919,  to  investigate  opportunities  for  the 
Association  to  be  of  service.  The  result  was  a  program  of  work  in 
connection  with  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  the  Near  East, 
whereby  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  should  supplement  the  work  of  direct  relief 
by  provding  systematic  recreation  and  a  program  for  constructive 
work  in  service  centers  with  club  activities,    In  general,  two  classes  of 

16? 


women  were  reached;  the  women  released  from  Turkish  harems,  and 
women  from  the  business  centers  and  from  colleges.  For  the  women 
just  freed  from  years  of  conformity  to  the  life  in  a  harem,  the  Near 
East  Relief  provided  shelters  called  rescue  homes,  which  met  the 
necessaries  of  existence.  It  remained  for  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  by  sending  a 
secretary  into  these  homes  to  teach  the  women  the  uses  for  their  new- 
found freedom,  giving  them  new  incentives  to  live.  These  rescue  homes 
were  scattered  through  Asia  Minor,  Turkey  and  Armenia.  Service 
centers  were  organized  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  the  larger  cities  and 
carried  on  club  activities,  with  large  volunteer  service  from  students, 
among  girls  at  work  in  the  cities. 

The  group  of  secretaries  sent  out  for  service  in  the  Near  East  was 
jtoined  by  a  group  known  as  the  South  Russia  unit.  These  were 
secretaries  who,  under  appointment  to  Russia,  with  strong  hope  that 
the  way  should  open  by  the  south,  in  the  meantime  put  their  services 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  the  Near  East.  Since  there  were 
in  the  Near  East,  and  particularly  in  Constantinople,  large  numbers 
of  refugees  from  Russia,  the  work  of  this  unit  was  counting  already 
for  Russia. 

Czecho-Slovakia 

In  Czecho-Slovakia  an  appeal  grew  out  of  the  need  of  the  new 
republic  for  a  social  service  program  which  should  not  only  take 
account  of  existing  agencies,  but  suggest  a  plan  for  a  larger  way  of 
meeting  the  situation.  The  first  call  was  for  expert  workers  to  make 
a  social  survey  6f  Prague.  The  call  was  sent  to  America  by  the 
daughter  of  the  President  of  Czecho-Slovakia,  who  herself  had 
studied  social  service  in  America.  Through  the  advice  of  a  settle- 
ment worker  who  had  seen  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  at  work  overseas,  the  call 
was  passed  on  to  that  organization,  with  special  recommendations  of 
the  person  best  adapted  to  head  the  work.  The  result  was  the  arrival 
in  Czecho-Slovakia,  in  April,  1919,  of  a  unit  sent  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
The  immediate  task  was  the  survey  of  Prague.  In  this  survey  five 
problems  were  presented: 

1.  Public  Health. 

2.  Social   Aspects   of    Schools. 

3.  Occupational  Study  of  Women. 

4.  Recreational    Survey. 

5.  Social   Care  for  Individuals. 

As  a  by-product,  a  welfare  directory  was  made.  In  the  work  of 
the  survey  large  cooperation  was  received  from  such  organizations 
as  the  American  Red  Cross  and  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  at  work 
in  Prague,  as  well  as  from  the  government  officials  themselves.  The 
presence  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  unit  in  Prague  and  its  study  of  conditions 
has  resulted  in  the  organization  of  work  along  Association  lines.  As 
a  student  center,  where  for  the  first  time  groups  of  women  with  their 
new-won  freedom  were  breaking  into  the  University  as  a  great  adven- 

i68 


ture,  Prague  presented  large  possibilities  for  some  student  work. 
For  the  city  itself,  a  model  city  Association  to  demonstrate  possibilities 
for  all  kinds  of  activities  among  girls  was  planned.  The  great  need 
was  for  leaders.  In  order  to  train  a  few  women  who  might  take  the 
initiative  in  social  work  in  the  country,  a  training  school  was  con- 
ducted for  the  small  group  who  seemed  ready  for  it.  In  this  program 
of  work  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  took  into  account  the  fact  that  America  must 
be  ready  not  only  to  bring  relief,  but  also  to  help  this  youngest  republic 
make  plans  for  helping  itself. 

Poland 

In  Poland  the  situation  left  by  the  war  was  one  calling  for  dire 
relief.  Relief  agencies  were  at  work,  but  the  need  was  growing. 
Poland  had  found  anew  her  freedom,  only  to  be  faced  again  with 
fresh  wars  and  new  responsibilities  for  defense.  The  situation  was 
such"  as  to  inspire  sympathy  from  her  peoples  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
To  Polish-American  girls  living  in  the  United  States  a  knowledge  of 
the  facts  became  a  challenge  to  service.  A  suggestion  originating  in 
the  heart  of  a  woman  who  felt  most  keenly  the  need  was  carried  out 
by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  organization  which,  through  its  work  for 
foreign-born  women  and  its  work  overseas,  was  able  to  make  the 
necessary  connections  for  the  execution  of  the  plan.  Those  Polish- 
American  girls,  who  volunteered  for  service  and  were  found  fit  after 
trai^iing  in  America,  were  sent  as  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  to  Poland. 
<r'TTSre,  under  the  supervision  of  secretaries  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  they 
^tvere  able,  through  their  ideals  and  training  in  social  work  and  through 
their  Polish  chivalry,  fostered  under  American  democracy,  to  mai^e 
a  large  contribution  to  the  work  of  relief,  especially  among  chiWre^. 
With  their  knowledge  of  the  language,  as  valuable  as  their  knowledge 
of  methods,  they  brought  a  leadership  in  the  execution  of  the  work 
which  made  them  respected,  and  a  spirit  to  the  work  which  made 
them  loved. 

This  work,  begun  in  the  summer  of  1919,  by  Polish  Grey  Samari- 
tans in  Poland  was  a  new  contribution  in  international  cooperation. 
Many  peoples  of  many  nations  had  come  and  gone  between  America 
and  their  native  land.  How  many  had  taken  back  the  best  America 
had  to  give  in  ideals  and  practical  service?  To  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
which  had  fostered  it,  the  work  was  a  demonstration  of  possibilities 
limitless  as  the  streams  of  life  from  two  separate  countries  which  join 
at  the  point  of  greatest  opportunity.  The  secretaries  sent  to  Poland 
with  the  Polish  Grey  Samaritans  found  their  time  filled  not  only  with 
the  supervision  of  the  work  of  the  Polish-American  girls  in  their 
charge,  but  also  in  responding  to  appeals  for  a  program  of  Associa- 
tion work  in  Poland.  In  October,  1919,  a  club  was  opened  in  Warsaw, 
following  the  general  scheme  of  Association  activities.  The  success 
which  thi^  club  has  met  has  paved  the  way  for  a  fuller  program, 
including  recreation  camp,  nurses*  club,  training  school  for  future 
leaders,  to  be  carried  out  at  such  time  as  conditions  permit. 

Siberia 

In  Siberia  the  summer  of  1919  found  a  group  of  secretaries  at  work 

169 


raising  the  Blue  Triangle  as  a  symbol  of  service  to  Russian  women 
and  children  who  might  be  stranded  as  refugees  in  the  far  eastern 
port  of  Vladivostock,  and  a  symbol  of  home  to  American  soldiers  sta- 
tioned in  and  around  the  city.  The  opportunities  were  as  great  as  they 
were  strategic.  Physical  needs  among  the  hundreds  of  Russian  ref- 
ugees, crowded  together  in  a  colony,  made  an  organized  program  of 
recreation  a  boon  morally  as  well  as  mentally.  The  opportunity  for 
team  work  and  fair  play  fostered  by  the  games,  under  a  trained  physi- 
cal director,  added  much  to  the  morale  of  the  camp.  As  for  the 
American  soldiers  quartered  in  what  seemed  to  them  the  farthest 
corner  of  the  earth,  in  a  line  that  tapered  off  along  remote  sections 
of  the  railroad,  the  presence  of  American  women  permeated  even  the 
most  isolated  barracks  with  its  element  of  dignity  and  nobility.  There 
was  a  new  incentive  for  the  soldier  up  the  line  to  secure  leaves  in 
town,  when  he  might  visit  the  Hostess  House  and  be  served  a  real 
American  meal  by  a  real  American  girl.  With  the  other  welfare 
agencies  at  w«ork  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  cooperated  in  making  the  activities  as 
numerous  and  wholesome  and  varied  as  possible.  This  Siberian  unit 
of  secretaries,  a  part  of  the  larger  unit  assigned  to  Russian  service, 
kept  a  busy  schedule  of  activity  in  a  war  emergency  situation,  while 
it  also  touched  the  fringe  of  this  far  eastern  stretch  of  Russia.  The 
unit  continued  in  service  until  the  military  situation  required  evacu- 
ation. 

Belgium 

In  Belgium  the  situation  left  by  the  war  is  best  described  in  the 
words  of  a  Belgian  woman  in  her  appeal  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  on 
behalf  of  the  women  of  Belgium.  She  says :  "Belgium  possesses  large 
industrial  centers,  where  women  work  under  very  hard  conditions. 
There  are  the  linen  factories  of  Ghent,  where  they  stand  up  to  their 
waists  in  water,  working  before  the  war  for  the  salary  of  1 .  50  francs 
a  day.  There  are  also  the  artificial  silk  manufactures  of  Hals  and 
Tubize,  where  women  work  in  ether  that  makes  them  light-headed 
and  hysterical.  During  the  war  the  women  have  shown  great  patience 
and  courage.  Many  have  suffered  in  German  prisons  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  patriotic  deed.  The  Germans  having  seized  all  the 
stores  of  raw  material,  industry  stopped  for  four  years  all  over  the 
country.  Out  of  a  population  of  seven  and  a  half  million,  four  and 
a  half  million  became  unemployed  and  have  had  to  subsist  on  public 
charity.  The  burden  of  pauperism  has  fallen  the  heaviest  on  the 
women,  whose  time  was  chiefly  spent  in  long  quests  for  the  daily 
ration  of  food,  fuel  and  clothing,  supplied  by  the  relief  committees. 

"While  in  every  other  country  war  has  been  women's  great  op- 
portunity, in  Belgium  the  women  and  girls  of  the  working  classes  have 
lived  a  diminished  life,  struggling  against  ill-health  and  demoraliza- 
tion. Perhaps  the  saddest  result  of  the  occupation  is  the  destroying 
of  a  moral  sense  in  the  young.  The  natural  food  products  being 
seized  by  the  Germans,  smuggling  food  from  the  country  into  the 
towns  become  the  chief  occupation  of  the  younger  generation.  This 
food  was  then  sold  in  underhand  ways  to  those  who  could  afford  to 

170 


pay.  For  two  years  Belgian  law  was  allowed  no  action.  Stealing  be- 
came an  avowed  practise  and  was  almost  excusable  because  of  the 
great  necessity.  Now  the  factories  wantonly  destroyed  in  many  parts 
are  to  be  rebuilt,  women  will  be  employed  in  larger  numbers  than  be- 
fore. I  have  seen  and  admired  in  France  the  wonderful  work  done  by 
the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  the  French  munition  workers  in  the 
Foyer  des  Alliees.  Such  homes  for  the  working  women  of  Belgium 
would  mean  their  moral  and  physical  salvation. 

"I  make  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  women  of  America.  The  women 
of  Belgium  have  endured  for  four  years.  They  were  united  and  up- 
lifted in  a  common  cause,  the  daily  struggle  against  the  oppressor. 
Now  the  war  is  over,  reconstruction  is  a  slow  process  and  the  great 
motive  is  gone.  They  are  no  longer  uplifted  and  the  abnormal  condi- 
tions born  of  the  past  four  years  of  social  disorganization  are  bear- 
ing fruit.  To  help  save  the  women  of  Belgium  I  make  this  appeal." 
The  name  attached  to  the  letter  was  that  of  Mile.  Helene  Goblet  d'Al^- 
viella  who  had  spent  much  time  in  France  not  only  watching  the  work 
of  the  Foyer  des  Alliees  but  taking  part  in  it  as  a  volunteer  worker 
at  St.  Etienne  and  later  at  Roanne,  and  also  making  her  contribution 
to  the  deliberations  of  the  Provisional  Council  in  Paris. 

In  response  to  this  appeal  which  was  addressed  to  the  American 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  through  the  World's  Committee  in  London,  a  unit  of  six 
secretaries  was  sent  to  Belgium  in  the  fall  of  1919.  There  existed  in 
Belgium  work  for  girls  under  the  two  organizations,  the  Union  Chre- 
tienne  de  Jeunes  Filles  and  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille.  The  U.  C. 
J.  F.  was  operating  in  Brussels,  a  small  branch  numbering  less  than 
forty  members,  composed  mostly  of  employed  girls,  some  of  them  in 
domestic  service.  With  meetings  held  in  unattractive  surroundings, 
and  formality  the  keynote  of  activities,  the  outlook  for  this  work  was 
not  large.  The  other  organization,  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille,  op- 
erated two  Homes  in  Brussels,  a  work  which  had  been  interrupted  by 
the  war.  The  desire  of  this  organization  was  to  cooperate  in  estab- 
lishing a  home  for  young  women  which  would  live  up  to  its  name 
in  every  sense  of  the  word  and  be  a  center  for  activities  in  behalf  of  a 
large  group.  As  the  Americans  sized  up  the  situation  in  response  to 
the  appeal  to  duplicate  the  work  as  done  in  France,  the  great  needs 
seemed  to  be  for  Foyers  with  large  activities  and  for  Hostels  cooper- 
ating in  the  program  of  the  Foyers  and  supplementing  it  by  furnishing 
lodging  and  restaurant  facilities  if  possible.  The  first  work  was  to 
find  suitable  locations.  Antwerp  and  Brussels  seemed  the  two  strate- 
gic centers  in  which  to  start  work. 

In  Antwerp  a  large  house  was  found  at  39  rue  Palais,  where  six- 
teen girls  might  be  lodged,  a  canteen  might  be  opened  and  all  Foyer 
activities  carried  on.  Preparations  were  begun  in  September,  1919, 
for  putting  in  order  this  center  in  Antwerp.  In  Brussels  a  large  house 
on  the  corner  of  rue  Pepin  and  the  Blvd.  de  Waterloo  was  chosen 
for  a  joint  Foyer  and  Hostel.  Here  would  be  room  for  a  restaurant 
and  for  lodging  twenty-two  girls,  a  certain  number  of  rooms  being 
kept  for  transients  and  for  unemployed  girls  seeking  work.  Here  also 
would  be  large  salons  suitable  for  recreation  and  rest  rooms.     The 

171 


location  of  this  building  in  the  midst  of  an  industrial  section  would 
place  the  work  in  the  center  where  it  was  most  needed.  This  center 
was  to  be  operated  under  the  supervision  of  the  Union  Chretienne  de 
Jeunes  Filles  and  Les  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille. 

Brussels  was  also  to  see  the  estaWishment  of  a  Foyer  des  Alliees. 
Through  the  enthusiastic  reports  of  Mile.  Goblet  d'Alviella,  the  girls 
of  Brussels  had  heard  much  of  the  Foyer  life  in  France  and  were 
prepared  to  welcome  a  Foyer  des  Alliees  in  Brussels.  Although  the 
building  secured  was  a  warehouse,  by  the  waving  of  her  magic  wand 
the  American  secretary  accomplished  the  transition  to  some  bright, 
happy,  clean  club  rooms,  the  ground  floor  being  adapted  for  cafeteria, 
the  floor  above  for  gymnastics  and  large  meetings  and  the  third  floor 
for  the  real  club  rooms  with  easy  chairs,  cretonnes,  books,  and  all  the 
sights,  sounds  and  feelings  that  go  to  make  up  a  Foyer.  On  the  top 
floor  were  two  class  rooms.  The  location  of  this  building  in  the  lower 
town  and  in  a  section  where  many  girls  worked  made  of  it  a  neigh- 
borhood house  with  promise  of  large  popularity  in  the  noon  hour. 
Even  before  the  transition  was  completed,  the  Foyer  was  doing  busi- 
ness by  having  a  Christmas  party.  "It  was  a  hastily  arranged  fete 
but  none  the  less  gay  and  successful,"  wrote  the  secretary,  "with  about 
sixty  girls  singing,  reciting,  playing  about  the  little  Christmas  tree 
and  learning  to  understand  something  of  what  it  means  to  have  a 
Foyer.  The  real  opening  is  postponed  from  week  to  week  but  we 
are  making  a  steady  advance  attack  on  painters  and  carpenters,  and 
one  day  soon  we  plan  a  quick  flanking  movement  which  will  bundle 
them  all  out  at  the  point  of  the  broomstick." 

The  first  opening  took  place  on  December  13,  1919,  when  the  head- 
quarters for  the  work  in  Belgium,  a  beautiful,  though  simply  fur- 
nished house  in  Brussels  soon  to  be  known  as  "Association  House,'* 
was  dedicated  with  an  impressive  little  service  led  by  Miss  Clarissa 
Spencer-  of  the  World's  Committee,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  staff 
and  Mile.  Goblet  d'Alviella,  who  although  a  volunteer  worker  was 
very  much  one  of  the  family.  In  the  afternoon  a  large  reception 
introduced  the  house  and  its  uses  to  the  people  of  Brussels.  Addresses 
by  Mr.  Brand  Whitlock,  American  Ambassador,  and  by  several  secre- 
taries of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  explained  the  presence  and  purpose  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Belgium. 

The  next  day,  December  14,  1919,  the  Foyer  in  Antwerp  was  opened 
with  restaurant  and  club  rooms  ready  for  the  public.  The  opening 
program  consisted  of  speeches,  choruses  by  the  girls,  a  representation 
with  singing  of  a  patriotic  poem  by  Verhaeren,  a  well-known  Belgian 
poet,  and  lantern  views  of  Association  work  in  Europe  and  America. 
A  group  of  girls  who  had  been  refugees  in  London  sang  in  Flemish 
since  they  knew  only  Flemish  and  English.  The  opening  was  followed 
by  groups  of  girls  signing  up  for  classes  in  true  Foyer  style. 

On  January  5,  1920,  the  Foyer-Hostel  of  Brussels  (45  rue  de  Pepin, 
corner  of  Blvd.  de  Waterloo)  opened  its  restaurant  to  the  public, 
serving  the  first  day  twenty-seven  people,  a  number  which  grew  rap- 
idly to  102.    On  the  opening  day  as  the  secretary  wandered  in  and  out 

172 


173 


among  the  tables  to  see  if  everyone  was  content,  she  heard  one  old 
woman  muttering  to  herself,  "C'est  tres  gentilles  de  ces  dames,  tres, 
tres  gentilles !"  She  was  not  the  only  one  who  thought  it  most  kind 
of  these  American  ladies  thus  to  serve  the  working  women,  for  one 
girl  took  a  car  every  day  to  come  in  from  the  suburbs  to  get  her  lunch 
at  the  restaurant,  and  felt  repaid  for  doing  so.  The  restaurant  in- 
creased in  popularity  until  some  days  in  March  and  April  saw  165 
people  served,  a  number  which  greatly  taxed  the  capacity  of  the  two 
rooms.  After  the  meal  a  program  in  the  parlors  of  singing  or  talking 
or  playing,  made  the  noon  hour  bright  for  many  girls  who  loved  to 
linger.  One  girl  as  she  returned  to  work  remarked  to  the  violinist  who 
had  been  playing,  *'You  will  never  know  all  that  you  have  done  for 
us  in  our  busy,  pressing  days — by  putting  a  little  soul  into  the  hours.*' 

Thus  the  Foyer-Hostel  became  an  oasis  in  the  life  of  many  girls. 
Classes  were  organized  in  English,  in  French  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Flemish  girls,  and  in  Bible  Study.  Since  the  U.  C.  J.  F.  under  whose 
auspices  the  Foyer-Hostel  was  run,  had  long  carried  on  religious  activi- 
ties, many  women  were  accustomed  to  Bible  Study.  It  was  found 
advisable,  however,  to  divide  the  class,  putting  the  younger  members 
by  themselves,  since  they  felt  a  hesitancy  in  discussing  their  questions 
before  the  older  women,  or  "vieux  bonnets"  as  they  called  them,  whose 
experience  was  so  much  greater. 

The  busy  Hfe  at  the  Foyer-Hostel  was  a  testimony  of  the  need  met. 
A  secretary  describes  a  morning  at  the  office:  "There  seems  hardly 
five  minutes  when  the  clang-clang  of  the  bell  is  not  heard.  Perhaps 
it  is  a  girl  asking  for  a  room  and  we  hear  the  frequent  sad  story  of 
why  she  is  alone — rather  because  she  and  her  mother  are  uncongenial 
or  that  her  parents  are  unfaithful,  than  that  they  are  dead.  So  we 
ask  her  for  medical  certificate  and  recommendation,  and  if  there  is 
room  we  take  her  into  our  family  of  working  girls.  Next  comes  one 
of  the  numberless  older  women  with  nowhere  to  go.  Poor  old  souls! 
One  longs  to  be  able  to  help  them.  They  are  so  pathetically  alone 
and  helpless.  Hardly  does  one  bend  over  the  work  at  the  desk  when 
the  next  caller  arrives,  one  of  our  faithful  volunteers  who  has  brought 
a  friend  to  see  the  house  and  ask  where  she  can  help.  The  girls  living 
in  the  house  drop  in  to  see  if  there  is  a  mail  and  stop  for  a  few  words. 
Just  now  it  is  the  Swiss  girl  who  is  spending  a  month  studying  art  in 
Belgian  museums  and  centers.  She  is  so  happy  to  be  there,  so  fresh 
and  enthusiastic  about  her  visits.  The  Swiss  nurses  are  meeting 
twice  this  month,  the  second  time  as  a  farewell  to  some  of  their  num- 
ber who  are  going  away.  They  are  planning  a  little  play.  The  girls 
of  the  English  Church  come  for  their  religious  service  followed  by 
tea  the  last  Wednesday  of  each  month.  The  Hospitality  Committee 
has  wished  to  plan  reunions  for  teachers."  Thu3  passed  the  days, 
each  one  apparently  busier  than  the  last.  As  for  the  program  hours,  a 
successful  ''soiree  internationale"  was  held  at  the  end  of  March,  1920, 
with  sixty  present,  representing  nine  different  nationalities.  After  a 
conversational  game,  the  girls  were  asked  to  group  themselves  by 
countries,  each  country  presenting  a  stunt.  The  Belgians,  the  most 
numerous,  worked  out  in  tableau  form  their  national  motto,  *'Union 

174 


fait  la  Force/*  ending  with  the  singing  of  the  "Brabanconne/'  as  they 
waved  the  Belgian  flag  over  their  heads.  The  evening  was  so  much 
enjoyed  that  the  girls  asked  to  return  in  another  month  and  a  unit  was 
appointed  to  prepare  for  the  April  meeting.  Out  of  this  grew  an 
international  club — a  fine  plan  of  work  for  a  center  like  Brussels  where 
there  came  together  girls  from  many  nationalities,  girls  from  many 
stations  in  life  and  girls  who  had  endured  varying  degrees  of  war 
suffering.  Flemish  girls  who  spoke  English  better  than  French  and 
were  quick  to  learn  any  language,  and  Brussels  girls  who  worked  un- 
der hard  industrial  conditions  with  long  hours  and  poor  pay.  A  sec- 
retary describing  her  first  impressions  in  Belgium  wrote:  ''Brussels 
is  very  deceiving.  All  seems  so  gay,  money  plentiful,  beautiful  auto- 
mobiles, beautiful  homes,  fascinating  shop  windows — but  one  cannot 
talk  five  minutes  to  a  person  without  learning  his  form  of  suffering 
during  the  German  occupation.  So  their  feverish  haste  to  seek  diver- 
sion and  forget  is  natural." 

One  physical  director  had  charge  of  the  recreation  work  Jn  both 
Brussels  and  Antwerp.  For  some  reason — ^possibly  due  to  war  suf- 
fering— the  recreation  work  met  with  a  greater  response  in  Antwerp 
than  in  Brussels.  In  Brussels  at  the  Foyer  des  Alliees  a  flourishing 
class  met  twice  a  week  and  invited  in  girls  studying  in  the  Social  Serv- 
ice School  who  were  interested  in  the  work  for  future  use.  An  after- 
noon class  for  school  children  was  carried  on  at  the  Hostel  (rue  du 
Pepin).  The  work  was  not  so  much  gymnastic  as  recreational,  owing 
to  the  size  and  nature  of  the  rooms.  This  class  was  also  attended  by 
students  from  the  Social  Service  School.  In  Antwerp  a  class  of  thirty- 
eight  met  twice  a  week  with  splendid  results  and  the  room  filled  to 
capacity.  A  noon  recreation  hour  was  also  popular.  To  see  the  group 
of  girls  doing  fancy  dances  in  wooden  shoes  was  in  itself  a  recreation. 
A  small  class  for  leaders  met  weekly  in  Antwerp,  one  girl  from  this 
group  taking  a  class  herself  another  afternoon  in  the  week.  The 
splendid  spirit  which  develops  from  physical  recreation  was  making  it- 
self felt  in  the  work  in  Belgium.  "It  is  worth  the  price  of  admission 
just  to  hear  one  of  the  girls  laugh." 

The  Antwerp  Foyer  grew  steadily.  January  31,  1920,  the  member- 
ship was  269.     Registration  for  class  was  as  follows: 

Gymnastics 30 

English    19 

French 19 

Singing    10 

French  literature   10 

French   stenography    12 

English   literature    4 

Total    104 

About  half  the  instruction  was  given  by  Belgian  women.  The  Amer- 
ican secretary  taught  two  English  classes.  'There  is  a  peculiar  fasci- 
nation," she  writes,  "in  hearing  an  equal  group  of  girls  come  back 

175 


at  the  English  expressions  which  are  given  them  with  French  or  Flem- 
ish. Their  attempts  at  English  are  strongly  colored  by  one  or  both 
of  the  two  languages.  Personally  I  have  taken  as  much  solid  pleasure 
out  of  my  two  English  classes  as  anything  I  have  done  in  connection 
with  the  Foyer.  The  Sunday  afternoon  At  Homes  had  an  average  at- 
tendance of  forty-two.  There  was  usually  a  musical  program  with  a 
combination  of  talent  from  the  girls  of  the  Foyer  and  the  women  of 
the  town.  On  one  afternoon  an  illustrated  talk  was  given  on  the  life  of 
Christopher  Plantin,  the  distinguished  printer  who  had  helped  make 
Antwerp  famous.  There  were  various  kinds  of  special  parties  for 
groups  of  Foyer  girls  or  invited  guests  or  gatherings  of  volunteers. 
The  lodgings  in  connection  with  the  Foyer  provided  for  sixteen  or 
eighteen  Belgian  girls  with  rooms  reserved  for  three  or  four  of  other 
nationalities.  Many  requests  for  one  or  two  night's  lodgings  were 
met  on  the  basis  of  emergencies.  The  case  is  typical  of  a  bright,  fresh- 
looking  girl  of  seventeen  arriving  at  ten  one  evening  from  the  country 
seeking  employment.  Owing  to  an  accident  the  only  train  that  would 
get  her  home  that  night  was  not  running.  While  walking  the  streets 
w^ondering  what  to  do,  she  happened  to  ask  advice  of  a  woman  who 
sent  her  to  the  Foyer.  The  canteen,  run  with  some  difficulties  in  con- 
nection with  the  Foyer,  was  serving  an  average  of  forty-two.  By  the 
end  of  March  the  total  enrolled  in  the  Foyer  membership  was  410. 
The  spirit  of  theT'oyer  was  perhaps  best  expressed  in  the  remark  of 
the  concierge:*  "C'est  vrai.  Mademoiselle,  n'est  ce  pas,  nous  sommes 
ici  comme  des  sbeurs."  This  sentiment  was  echoed  in  the  Antwerp 
Gazette :  "It  is  really  striking,  the  f  rinedship  and  mutual  esteem  which 
reigns  there.  Factory  girls  and  girls  of  the  best  bourgeois  standing 
fraternize  in  the  heartiest  way." 

For  the  summer  recreation  of  girls  from  the  Belgian  Foyers  and 
Hostels  a  camp  was  taken  near  Ostend  at  Cocq-sur-Mer.  Les 
Mouettes  (Sea  Gulls),  as  this  camp  was  named,  was  well  equipped 
with  single  beds  to  take  care  of  twenty-four  girls  a  week  during  the 
summer  of  1920.  ''Every  bed  full"  came  back  the  report.  This  addi- 
tion of  an  outdoor  life  to  the  recreation  plan  for  the  Foyers  was  of 
great  value  in  Belgium  where  no  recreation  work  had  been  done  before 
in  connection ,  with  either  Les  Amis  de  la  Jeune  Fille  or  the  Union 
Chretienne  des  Jeunes  Filles.  To  teach  girls  how  to  play  as  well  as 
how  to  work  seemed  one  mission  of  the  Foyer. 

Antwerp  as  a  port  city  became  an  important  American  center.  With 
the  gradual  removal  of  the  A.  E.  F.  from  France  and  the  concentra- 
tion of  the  Army  of  Occupation  in  Germany,  Antwerp  was  taken  as 
the  port  of  American  embarkation.  The  consequent  presence  of  Amer- 
icans in  the  city  called  for  a  Hostess  House.  In  February,  1920,  a 
Hostess  House  was  therefore  opened  in  Antwerp  to  serve  as  long  as 
Americans  continued  to  come  and  go  in  large  numbers.  A  building 
of  eight  rooms  requisitioned  by  the  government  gave  promise  of  meet- 
ing in  a  most  charming  way,  under  the  gracious  management  of  Amer- 
ican secretaries,  the  hospitality  needs  among  the  growing  number  of 
Americans  in  the  port.     Although  the  number  of  American  women 

176 


177 


might  not  be  as  large  as  in  the  days  of  more  intensive  war  work,  yet 
new  problems  in  sociability  seemed  constantly  presenting  themselves. 

Port  and  Transport  Work 

With  the  closing  of  the  port  of  Brest,  there  was  transferred  to i Ant- 
werp that  phase  of  Y.  W  .C.  A.  activities  known  as  Portland  Trans- 
port Work.  This  was  the  Department  designed  to  assist  the  Army 
in  caring  for  foreign  brides  of  American  soldiers.  Three  secretaries 
were  sent  to  Antwerp  in  January,  1920,  and  an  office  was  opened  at 
Army  Headquarters.  It  was  decided  after  a  conference  with  the  Port 
Commander  that  the  secretaries  should  register  and  make  a  sailings  list 
for  all  women  passengers,  be  responsible  for  their  passports  and  help 
them  find  rooms  while  awaiting  embarkation.  The  waiting  was  the 
worst  since  there  were  apparently  no  rooms  to  be  had  at  Antwerp. 
The  opening  of  the^Y.  W.  C.  A.  Hostess  House  in  February  was  of 
great  assistance  to  the  Department  of  Port  and  Transport  Work  and 
helped  solve  the  housing  question.  Between  the  middle  of  January. and 
the  end  of  March  fifty-four  women  and  nine  children  were  registered 
at  the  office,  all  dependents  of  enlisted  men.  The  office  was  also  glad  to 
be  of  assistance  to  American  women,  officers'  wives,  nurses  and  typists 
- — in  all  seventy-one — who  were  coming  from  duty  in  many  countries, 
many  of  them  with  the  Embassies.  Some  of  these  girls  had  difficulties 
in  getting  passports  but  did  not  give  up  hope.  'Tt  may  be  years  but 
I  will  go  to  the  States  sometime,"  they  would  say.  •  Some  of  the  cases 
might  be  described  as  pitiful.  Complicated  situations  arose  from  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  wives  of  American  soldiers  who  passed  through 
Antwerp  were  women  of  German  birth.  Sometimes  as  many  as  150 
were  there  together.  Whatever  the  circumstances  or  the  nationality  of 
the  brides,  there  was  sure  to  be  opportunity  for  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to 
assist  them  on  their  way.  "That  is  our  aim,"  wrote  the  secretary,  "to 
help  and  to  get  the  new  Americans  to  realize  that  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is 
their  friend  wherever  they  are." 

The  Port  and  Transport  Work  at  Antwerp  was  a  continuation  of 
that  begun  as  an  emergency  which  could  be  met  only  by  a  woman's 
organization.  In  the  spring  of  1919  thousands  of  French  women  had 
passed  through  the  ports  of  Bordeaux,  St.  Nazaire  and  Brest  to  jour- 
ney to  new  lands  as  the  wives  of  American  soldiers.  In  coming  to 
the  assistance  of  the  Army,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  endeavored  to  give 
these  women  not  only  practical  help  in  making  comfortable  their  Army 
quarters  and  sociable  their  hours  of  waiting,  but  also  in  making  profita- 
ble their  first  acquaintance  with  Americans.  Every  contact  was  con- 
sidered as  a  link  in  the  chain  that  might  bind  them  to  their  new  land 
or  embitter  them  against  America.  The  problem  was  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  one  of  Americanization.  To  complete  the  chain  of  as- 
sistance the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  placed  workers  on  every  transport  carrying 
brides — one  or  two  secretaries,  or  workers  secured  from  other  organi- 
zations, who  would  look  after  the  interests  of  the  brides  on  board  ship, 
interpret  their  needs  to  the  ship's  officers,  make  their  hours  on  board 
pleasant,  see  that  rules  are  kept  and  order  preserved — in  fact  to  be  a 
liaison  officer  between  the  brides  and  the  ship's  officers.    The  aim  of 

178 


the  transport  officers  was  to  have  the  husbands  of  the  brides  sail  on 
the  same  ships  with  the  women,  but  in  many  cases  this  was  impossible 
on  account  of  failures  to  make  connections,  misunderstandings  or 
force  of  circumstances.  In  such  cases  it  was  necessary  for  the  brides 
to  take  advantage  of  the  sailings  provided  for  them  in  charge  of  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  secretaries  who  would  give  them  special  attention  and  look  out 
for  their  interests  on  the  other  side  until  their  husbands  arrived. 

Many  were  the  duties  of  transport  workers.  The  needs  of  a  group 
of  women  sailing  on  a  ship  equipped  to  carry  men  were  as  great  as 
the  number  of  women.  In  a  group  of  fifty  or  seventy-five  there  was 
always  something  to  be  done  from  consoling  a  tearful  bride  whose 
husband  had  been  left  behind  to  assuring  a  hopeful  young  wife  that 
her  husband  would  meet  her  in  New  York.  Or  perhaps  it  was  a 
case  of  seasickness  and  the  bride  might  be  French,  understanding  no 
word  of  English.  She  refused  to  leave  her  berth.  Circumstances  re- 
quired that  no  men  should  visit  the  women's  quarters  on  board.  What 
was  to  be  done  when  the  only  person  to  whom  she  could  pour  out 
the  full  extent  of  her  sorrows,  physical  and  mental,  was  her  husband? 
Under  the  exasperation  of  circumstances,  the  secretary  was  known  in 
such  a  case  to  get  permission  from  the  highest  officer  of  the  ship  to 
allow  the  husband  who  spoke  no  French  to  console  her  by  his  pres- 
ence for  one  brief  moment  at  her  bedside. 

And  then  there  were  the  babies.  A  group  of  fifty  or  more  wives 
were  sure  to  be  accompanied  by  some  fifteen  children  with  them — 
the  children  and  the  step-children  of  the  American  soldiers — and  if  the 
mothers  were  seasick,  who  was  left  to  care  for  the  babies?  Who  but 
the  well-worn  war  workers?  Thus  it  came  about  that  many  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  secretaries  and  other  welfare  workers  rounded  off  their  careers 
of  usefulness  in  foreign  parts  by  an  extra-intensive  period  of  useful- 
ness, on  the  homeward  journey.  From  having  the  standing  of  a  ship's 
officer  with  privileges  to  match — the  run  of  the  kitchen,  the  command 
of  the  tea  hour — to  becoming  nurses,  stewardesses,  even  proxies  for 
missing  husbands,  the  transport  workers  invariably  landed  in  New 
York  too  full  for  utterance  or  else  too  mixed  in  metaphors  to  give 
coherent  accounts  of  the  voyage.  The  reports  of  all  their  doings, 
therefore,  must  be  suggested  and  left  to  the  imagination. 

The  Port  and  Transport  Work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  as  well  as  being 
unique  was  international  in  its  aspects.  The  American  soldier  was  no 
respecter  of  nationality  when  it  came  to  falling  in  love.  In  every  coun- 
try where  he  was  stationed  under  lonely  enough  circumstances  for  a 
long  enough  time,  results  were  seen  in  intermarriages.  The  largest 
number  of  brides  were  French,  passing  through  the  three  ports  of  em- 
barkation in  France.  There  were  also  numbers  of  British  brides,  most 
of  whom  sailed  from  Liverpool  and  were  looked  after  in  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  Hostess  House  provided  in  Liverpool  for  that  purpose.  A  few 
brides  came  from  Italy,  sailing  from  Italian  p>orts  when  opfK)rtunity 
offered  or  coming  north  for  embarkation  in  France.  There  were  also 
brides  from  Czecho-Slovakia.  About  fifty  per  cent  of  these  were  mar- 
ried before  the  war  and  were  taking  advantage  of  transportation  op- 
portunities brought  about  through  war  conditions  and  through  the  en- 

179 


forced  presence  of  their  husbands  in  Europe  to  reach  America.  A 
train  journey  of  one  week  was  necessary  in  order  to  reach  their  port 
of  embarkation.  This  trip  was  usually  made  in  a  sanitary  train  duly 
organized  under  the  military  and  Red  Cross  supervision.  In  October, 
1919,  167  women  and  children  sailed  using  Czech  passports  with  Amer- 
ican vises.  In  Siberia  the  Hostess  House  open  in  Vladivostok  did  its 
share  in  caring  for  brides,  seventy-five  of  them  coming  into  direct  touch 
with  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  It  was  difficult  for  the  Army  to  know  what  to 
do  with  them.  Thirty-two  were  sent  to  Manila  when  word  came  that 
no  more  could  be  cared  for  there.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  forced  to 
evacuate  before  they  had  all  left  Vladivostok. 

The  Port  and  Transport  Work  entailed  activities  novel  to  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  secretaries  yet  by  no  means  beyond  the  scope  of  an  organization 
whose  aim  was  ''Service"  in  the  largest  sense  of  the  word.  The  mere 
matter  of  attending  to  baggage  involved  the  entire  time  of  one  person. 
To  fit  the  right  bride  to  the  right  baggage  meant  endless  searchings 
amid  scattered  dumps  of  trucks,  boxes,  duffle  bags.  Army  outfits,  accu- 
mulated from  weeks  of  unloading  trains  in  port  cities.  It  meant  min- 
gling with  other  devotees  of  the  hunt  who  might  be  Colonels,  Majors  or 
doughboys,  and  it  frequently  meant  helping  them  too.  When  it  came 
to  the  baggage  question,  the  Army  was  swamped.  Nothing  but  patient 
prodding  amid  the  ever-increasing  piles  could  bring  order  out  of  chaos. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  worker  who  soon  knew  the  ropes  as  well  as  anybody 
was  able  to  do  many  turns  of  kindness  for  hurried  officers  or  men  who 
must  leave  for  home  on  short  notice  without  a  trace  of  their  baggage. 

Another  duty  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  to  help  at  the  American  Em- 
bassy in  Paris  by  having  a  secretary  on  duty  there  every  day  during 
the  rush  when  French  brides  speaking  no  English  thronged  the  place 
seeking  information  they  did  not  know  how  to  get.  The  mere  matter 
of  understanding  the  French  feminine  temperament  as  well  as  speaking 
the  language  put  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary  in  a  position  to  serve  dur- 
ing the  time  of  greatest  rush. 

The  variety  in  nationality  of  the  foreign  brides  taken  by  American 
soldiers,  sailors  and  marines  shows  something  of  the  extent  of  the 
activities  of  the  Port  and  Transport  Department.  The  work  begun 
in  the  long  days  of  waiting  before  sailing,  and  continued  on  the  voyage, 
was  not  ended  upon  landing  in  America.  At  the  dock  in  New  York  the 
brides  were  met  by  the  American  Red  Cross  and  conveyed  to  a  Hostess 
House  where  they  might  stay  until  their  husbands,  or  someone  sent  by 
their  husbands,  were  ready  to  take  them  away.  By  keeping  records  of 
all  the  cases,  a  Red  Cross  worker  was  prepared  to  see  that  every  bride 
was  properly  cared  for.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretaries  were  able  to  give 
many  of  them  addresses  and  introductions  to  the  Associations  in  the 
towns  to  which  they  were  going.  There  they  might  be  welcomed  by 
the  Department  on  Work  for  Foreign-born  Women  whose  specialized 
interest  in  the  work  of  Americanization  placed  them  in  a  position  to 
starve  these  newly-made  Americans.  Thus  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  could 
continue  to  be  of  great  help  in  many  cases.  Upon  landing  the  brides 
were  scattered  in  all  States  of  the  Union.  The  French' girl  who  spoke 
no  English  with  a  husband  who  spoke  no  French  seemed  frequently 

i8o 


destined  for  some  town  in  Kansas  which  had  never  heard  a  foreign 
language.  Yet  so  great  is  the  heart  of  America  that  it  is  easy  to  be- 
lieve it  possible  for  her  children  who  come  to  her  from  the  ends  of 
the  earth  to  find  themselves  speedily  at  home.  Great  are  the  oppor- 
tunities before  any  organization  so  placed  as  to  be  able  to  help  in  the 
process.  Such  is  the  aim  and  ambition  of  the  organization  which  in 
the  face  of  many  calls  seeks  to  find  the  means  of  responding  in  places 
where  women  most  need  the  friendliness  implied  in  the  Blue  Triangle. 


ROUMANIA 


Of  the  many  calls  which  came  to  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  the  days  follow- 
ing '  its  demonstration  through  war  work  of  what  the  Blue  Triangle 
could  do  in  Europe,  some  were  from  Balkan  States.  In  response  to 
the  need  the  World's  Committee  had  sent  a  secretary  in  the  spring  of 
1919  to  investigate  the  conditions  among  women.  After  visiting  Rou- 
mania,  Bulgaria  and  Serbia  she  reported  a  condition  of  demorahzation 
among  women  and  girls  resulting  directly  from  the  war,  a  condition 
which  the  people  of  the  countries  recognized  i yet  seemed  unable  to 
combat.  Where  bad  conditions  had  existed  before,  the  war  had  accen- 
tuated them.  To  such  an  extent  had 'the  evil  grown  that  the  people 
were  not  only  admitting  but  were  asking  for  outside  help  and  leader- 
ship in  meeting  it.  Appeals  from  Balkan  countries  had  come  through 
other  channels  to  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  as  far  back  as  the  spring 
of  1918  when  the  case  of  Serbia  was  presented  before  the  War  Work 
Council  in  New  York.  In  April,  1919,  a  letter  from  a  Roumanian 
Senator  asked  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  render  assistance  to  the  women  of 
Roumania,  requesting  that  a  commission  meet  the  Queen  of  Roumania 
in  London  to  hear  from  her  what  measures  of  assistance  might  be 
properly  rendered.  A  commission  was  able  to  meet  the  Queen  and 
other  representative  women  in  London  and  in  Paris  to  talk  over  the 
situation,  after  which  it  was  decided  after  further  consultation  with 
the  World's  Committee  to  send  American  secretaries  into  Roumania. 

The  first  American  secretary  Deaconess  Anita  Hodgkin  reached 
Bucharest  November  1,  1919,  accompanied  by  two  secretaries  of  the 
World's  Committee.  The  first  days  were  spent  in  making  calls  and 
hunting  houses.  Bucharest  like  every  other  European  city  was  con- 
gested with  an  added  number  of  people  and  a  diminished  number  of 
houses.  Two  large  girls'  schools  were  visited  and  addresses  made  on 
such  subjects  as  The  Camp  Fire  Girls  of  America.  This  met  with 
a  quick  response  in  one  of  the  schools  from  which  many  girls  came 
to  join  the  club.  Another  group  of  Roumanian  women  were  leading 
in  a  study  of  social  conditions  at  Bucharest.  This  survey  demonstrated 
the  fact  that  while  the  Roumanians  have  a  number  of  charitable  so- 
cieties and  are  generous  in  doing  things  for  the  poor,  there  was  noth- 
ing which  taught  self-help,  and  there  were  few  people  who,  except  for 
an  interest  in  the  peasants,  knew  or  cared  much  about  working  people. 
The  need  for  Y.  W.  C.  A.  activities  as  seen  by  the  American  secre- 
taries was  for  a  program  of  city  work  as  well  as  student,  reaching 
people  who  needed  the  Association  ideals.     Late  in  December,  1919, 

i8i 


after  the  arrival  oi  a  second  American  secretary,  a  large  factory  was 
visited  which  employed  1500  women  in  making  soldiers'  uniforms. 
This  factory  offered  large  opportunities  for  a  demonstration  of  what 
could  be  done  in  noon  hour  recreation  work.  The  student  group  of 
the  country  showed  an  interest  in  the  Association  movement,  the  men 
being  more  receptive  than  the  women.  In  the  country  were  also  pos- 
sibilities, particularly  in  lines  of  health  work  but  also  for  work  in  the 
nature  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.  recreational  activities.  The  secretary  wrote: 
'The  peasant  women  work  hard  all  summer  but  in  the  winter  have 
absolutely  no  way  of  getting  any  recreation.  At  the  present  time  few 
of  them  have  more  than  one  lamp  and  sometimes  only  one  candle  in 
their  houses,  so  that  as  soon  as  it  is  dark  they  have  to  go  to  bed.  Their 
lives  are  very  empty." 

Her  Majesty  Maria,  Queen  of  Roumania,  gave  the  secretaries  an 
audience  early  in  December,  1919,  which  showed  Her  Majesty  to  be 
*'not  only  a  Queen  but  a  woman  of  very  keen  insight  and  one  whose 
judgment  and  advice  would  be  always  most  valuable.  She  is  very 
anxious  that  the  young  women  of  Roumania  should  be  given  some- 
thing to  do  or  else  those  who  did  splendid  work  during  the  war  will 
just  go  back  to  a  life  of  ease.  She  said  that  the  women  here  need  help 
to  understand  what  Social  Service  is  and  also  need  help  religiously  and 
morally."  The  outlook  was  toward  creating  a  better  feeling  between 
students,  working  women  and  society  w^omen.  There  was  even  a  plan 
for  organizing  social  work  in  a  group  of  villages  in  which  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  might  have  responsibility  for  recreation,  moral  and  religious 
work.  Through  the  cooperation  of  the  Queen,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secre- 
taries were  introduced  to  representative  Roumanian  women. 

It  was  not  long  before  groups  of  women  were  meeting  weekly  and 
classes  organized  among  students,  and  club  work  made  a  beginning, 
I  which   promised    well    for   the    future    of   a   well  -  rounded   Associa- 
'  tion  in  Bucharest.     The  formal  opening  of  Association  work  was  on 
I  January  2,   1920,  which  according  to  the  Roumanian  calendar  Was 
December  20,  1919.    About  200  were  in  attendance ;  the  Queen  herself, 
Princess  Elizabeth  and  one  of   the  ladies  in  waiting  being  present. 
The  moment  the  Queen  entered  the  house  a  group  of  school  girls 
began  to  sing  the  Roumanian  anthem.     This  was  followed  by  a  reli- 
gious service  intoned  by  a  priest  with  the  assistance  of  a  hidden  group 
of  men  choristers.     The  religious  service  was  according  to  the  Rou- 
manian custom  which  has  this  form  of  opening  new  public  buildings 
i  or  taking  possession  of  a  private  house.     Following  the  service  there 
'were  speeches  explaining  the  nature  of  the  Foyer  work.     There  was 
a  word  of  thanks  expressed  to  the  Queen  for  her  presence  and  her 
encouragement  and  there  was  a  short  speech  by  a  Roumanian  lady 
/  thanking   the  Americans   for   coming   and   offering   every   assistance. 
A  small  school  girl  then  recited  a  short  poem  on  Roumania.    Thus  the 
official  program  closed.     The  Queen  and  Princess  signed  their  names 
in  the  guest  book  and  listened  in  an  outer  room  while  the  school  girls 
sang  a  Roumanian  song  and  the  American  and  British  national  airs. 
The  Queen  left  with  promises  of  the  use  of  an  automobile  from  the 
Royal  Garage  and  the  installation  of  a  telephone,  thus  showing  an  eye 

182 


to  the  small  necessities  of  convenience.  The  American  secretary 
summed  up  her  impressions:  "It  is  an  interesting  thing  working  in 
a  place  where  no  one  has  the  slightest  conception  of  Association  work 
but  due  to  the  great  amount  of  interest  shown  I  feel  sure  that  we  will 
soon  have  fine  results  and  many  able  leaders  among  the  Roumanian 
women." 

Following  this  formal  inauguration  of  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
in  Bucharest,  the  Association  grew  to  the  capacity  of  its  quarters,  with 
activities  touching  chiefly  school  girls  or  young  women .  who  had  at 
least  a  secondary  education,  students  of  the  University  and  Art  Schools, 
business  women  and  young  women  of  the  so-called  leisure  class.  The 
membership  divided  itself  into  groups :  honorary  members  represent- 
ing women  whose  daughters  made  use  of  the  Foyer  and  women  who 
themselves  used  the  Foyer  as  they  might  use  a  woman's  club 
(there  being  none  in  Bucharest)  ;  general  members  consisting  of 
young  women  and  students  or  teachers  who  took  an  active  part  in  the 
work  of  the  Foyer,  helping  with  the  library,  the  membership  cards, 
card  catalog,  as  well  as  being  hostesses,  members  of  the  Program  Com- 
mittee and  students  in  the  courses ;  teachers  or  professors,  being  women 
and  a  few  men  who  frequently  attended  the  Sunday  afternoon  meet- 
ings and  came  for  special  addresses  and  for  a  weekly  class  in  English 
conversation ;  young  girls  of  the  town  who  came  for  French  and  Eng^ 
lish  and  on  Sunday  afternoons ;  and  students  from  out  of  town  who 
attended  the  University  and  who  greatly  needed  the  recreation  work 
of  the  Foyer,  and  the  games  and  talks  on  interesting  subjects  and  who 
attended  regularly  certain  Bible  classes,  one  of  which  at  their  request 
was  conducted  in  English  on  the  subject  of  Prayer;  school  girls  who 
spent  Saturday  afternoon  at  the  Foyer  crowding  the  rooms  (Princess 
Elizabeth  often  came  to  these  meetings  and  plays).  With  such  va- 
riety in  the  membership  the  work  assumed  propbftions  which  taxed 
to  the  limit  the  time  of  all  the  secretaries  and  made  necessary  the 
speedy  training  of  some  volunteer  leaders.  The  secretary  writes: 
*'For  a  while  we  found  ourselves  in  the  difficult  situation  of  trying  to 
handle  classes  or  meetings  combined  of  students,  children,  young  women 
and  some  quite  elderly  women.  We  had  advertised  the  classes  for 
young  women  or  students,  but  the  others  insisted  upon  coming.  We 
used  all  the  diplomacy  possible  and  finally  they  themselves  saw  how 
much  better  it  was  to  have  separate  classes."  For  the  older  women 
a  class  was  organized  in  Christian  Social  Reconstruction  and  two 
classes  in  the  Life  and  Letters  of  St.  Paul.  "We  have  felt  that  we 
must  always  have  something  for  these  older  women  and  it  is  almost 
pathetic  to  realize  how  much  they  want  and  need  just  such  classes. 
These  same  older  women  have  come  very  often  to  our  afternoon  teas 
which  we  have  daily  from  four  to  five.  They  have  also  begged  us  to 
have  classes  for  them  in  the  English  language,  but  this  we  have  been 
obliged  to  refuse  since  we  felt  that  we  could  not  spare  the  time  neces- 
sary and  have  so  far  found  it  impossible  to  get  much  help  from  the 
English  residents  here.  Among  the  general  membership  there  was  a 
group  studying  the  subject  of  Prayer  with  an  attendance  of  about  ten 
who  were  deeply  interested  and  felt  a  great  need  for  a  better  under- 
standing of  how  Prayer  could  be  more  real  to  them.    A  second  group 

183 


of  twenty-five  studying  Christian  Social  Reconstruction  became  so 
interested  in  their  study  that  they  desired  to  do  something  in  testimony 
of  that  interest.  The  course  was  supplemented  by  an  address  from  a 
Red  Cross  worker  who  had  done  social  service  in  America  and  had 
been  a  year  in  Roumania  studying  possibilities.  She  found  the  young 
women  of  the  course  most  eager  to  help  in  every  way  possible. 

On  Sunday  afternoons  the  attendance  at  the  Foyer  was  anywhere 
from  twenty  to  fifty  people,  including  both  men  and  women,  boys  and 
girls.  Tea,  music,  recitations  and  short  addresses  filled  the  program 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  value  of  such  Sunday  afternoons  lay  in 
providing  a  common  meeting  place  and  made  of  these  functions  an 
important  piece  of  social  service  to  the  community.  Appreciation  of 
the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  expressed  by  gifts :  some  of  them 
gifts  of  food  by  the  Red  Cross  making  possible  the  plan  for  opening  a 
cafeteria ;  another  a  gift  of  300  volumes  by  a  gentleman  of  Bucharest ; 
and  a  gift  of  a  dozen  and  a  half  tea  cups  by  two  girls. 

During  the  month  of  January,  1920,  the  total  number  of  people  who 
registered  as  coming  to  the  Foyer  was  1004.  And  there  must  have 
been  many  who  forgot  to  register.  For  the  month  of  February  there 
were  twelve  classes,  four  French  classes,  seven  religious  classes  and 
six  conferences  and  meetings.  The  work  had  completely  outgrown  the 
present  quarters.  The  secretary  wrote :  "I  never  quite  know  whether 
the  room  where  I  have  my  desk  is  an  office,  class  room,  cafeteria  or 
the  secretaries'  dining  room,  and  the  other  rooms  are  all  equally  used." 
The  search  for  a  new  house  was  long  and  difficult.  In  the  meantime 
the  work  continued  under  the  crowded  conditions,  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary being  filled  not  only  with  the  regular  activities  but  with  greater 
investigation  into  the  life  of  industrial  girls  in  the  factories.  Besides 
the  uniform  factories  which  had  been  already  investigated,  there  were 
factories  employing  from  400  to  2000  girls  to  work  in  tobacco,  muni- 
tions or  matches.  Some  of  these  girls  were  very  young,  many  even 
confessing  to  the  age  of  twelve.  The  government  factories  were  well 
equipped  with  restaurants  in  most  places,  the  greatest  need  being  rec- 
r'eation  for  the  girls  during  the  noon  hour.  The  managers  in  most 
cases  were  sympathetic  with  the  idea  of  the  Association.  The  secre- 
taries were  eager  for  the  opportunity  to  be  of  use  in  this  way. 

The  opportunity  came.  With  the  cooperation  of  the  Colonel  in 
charge  of  a  factory,  an  opening  was  made  on  May  17,  1920.  The 
program  was  arranged  by  the  Colonel  with  great  tact,  due  to  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  situation  among  his  workers.  The  event  was  announced 
as  something  especially  for  his  soldiers  but  to  which  the  employees 
might  come  if  they  wished.  He  felt  that  few  would  come  and  espe- 
cially that  the  number  of  women  would  be  small.  However,  when  the 
day  came  i the  large  room  was  packed  and  by  far  the  majority  were 
women  and  girls.  A  stage  had  been  erected  for  the  occasion  at  the 
end  of  the  room  and  decorated  in  red,  yellow  and  blue,  the  Roumanian 
colors.  A  chorus  of  soldiers  sang,  a  group  of  small  orphans  being  edu- 
cated at  the  factory  danced,  then  someone  recited.  Two  students  con- 
tributed to  the  program.     The  most  striking  thing  was  that  no  woman 

z84 


had  a  part.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  planned  some  games  fi'or  the  soldiers 
out-of-doors  which  amused  the  rest  of  the  crowd.  It  was  considered 
useless  to  ask  the  women  to  do  anything  as  it  was  supposed  they  would 
not.  Such  was  the  beginning  and  such  was  the  challenge  of  the  work 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  among  the  factory  girls  in  Roumania. 

The  work  with  school  girls  was  a  great  success.  One  of  the  early 
parties,  a  Valentine  party  on  the  14th  of  February,  had  interested  so 
much  not  only  the  group  of  100  girls  who  came  but  also  the  two  little 
Princesses  that  when  the  weather  was  good,  the  use  of  the  Royal  Palace 
gardens  was  offered  for  Saturday  afternoon.  Here  was  space  for  vol- 
ley ball,  paths  for  potato  races,  three-legged  races  and  all  the  other 
familiar  sports,  and  lovely  shady  spots  for  strolling  about  when  racing 
and  volley  ball  seemed  too  strenuous. 

^  With  the  coming  of  spring,  many  dropped  out  of  the  classes,  but 
the  English  and  French  classes  continued.  The  English  discussion  club 
had  a  final  meeting  in  April,  1920,  when  they  decided  to  disband  for 
the  summer,  since  many  were  leaving  for.J:heir  summer  homes  in  a 
short  time.  This  final  meeting  was  well  attended  and  discussions  cen- 
tered on  "Women's  War  Work  in  England^ 

The  new  quarters  for  Association  work  were  at  last  discovered. 
On  May  23,  1920,  there  was  a  formal  opening  of  the  new  house.  The 
parish  priest  was  present  for  the  service  of  dedication.  The  Arch- 
bishop was  represented  on  the  program  by  a  clergyman  who  spoke 
about  the  organization,  described  what  it  was  striving  for  and  gave 
an  inspiring  religious  address.  Among  the  secretaries  on  the  program 
was  the  first  Roumanian  secretary  who  spoke  of  the  opening  at  the 
uniform  factory  and  of  plans  for  work  with  the  women  there.  A  de- 
scription was  given  of  Busteni,  the  summer  camp  where  a  student  con- 
ference was  to  be  held  the  last  week  in  July.  The  program  was  fol- 
lowed by  tea.  Although  the  house  was  unfinished  at  the  time  of  the 
opening,  the  restaurant  was  open  and  with  little  advertising  was  grow- 
ing. A  student  party  was  held  soon  after  the  opening  of  both  men 
and  women,  many  attending  in  national  costumes  and  dancing  in  and 
out  of  the  rooms  to  music.  Songs  and  American  ice-cream  were  inter- 
spersed during  the  rest  period  and  added  to  the  success  of  the  evening. 

The  summer  camp  which  was  opened  July  1,  1920,  admitted  students, 
professors  and  working  girls.  Following  the  conference  for  students 
at  the  end  of  July,  the  month  of  August  was  devoted  to  school 
girls  only,  with  special  attention  to  those  girls  who  were  most  tired 
and  consequently  in  need  of  mountain  air.  Those  whose  parents  could 
not  afiford  to  send  them  elsewhere  to  the  country  were  given  special 
rates.  The  month  of  September  was  for  any  who  wished  to  come. 
The  first  year  met  with  such  success  that  the  camp  has  become  a  per- 
manent thing. 

With  a  view  to  making  permanent  the  Association  work  begun  m 
Roumania,  a  provisional  committee  under  the  direction  of  the  secre- 
taries was  organized.  This  committee  had  eleven  business  girls,  in- 
dustrial girls,  business  girls  and  domestics,  young  women  of  leisure 
as  well  as  camps  and  village  work,  Foyers  and  restaurants,  finances 

I8S 


and  publicity.  The  plan  was  of  great  interest  to  the  Quedn  who  gave 
her  attention  to  the  matter  of  suggesting  names  of  possible  committee 
members.  Having  outgrown  its  first  quarters  the  Association  had 
entered  a  new  building  with  larger  possibilities  but  more  intimate  and 
sympathetic  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  membership.  With  an  outlook 
for  service  they  took  into  account  not  only  the  immediate  needs  so 
apparent  but  also  the  opportunities  for  the  future.  The  work  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  had  made  its  beginning  in 
Roumania. 

Serbia 

Another  request  that  had  come  from  Balkan  States  was  for  some 
work  in  Serbia.  To  investigate  the  situation  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secretary 
was  sent  to  Serbia  in  March,  1920.  She  arrived  in  Belgrade  March 
25th.  In  studying  conditions  she  had  in  mind  two  questions :  first,  as 
to  whether  the  need  for  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  an  emergency  or  a  per- 
manent need;  second,  as  to  whether  general  conditions  in  Belgrade 
made  possible  or  advisable  the  immediate  establishment  of  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  She  found  many  relief  agencies  already  at  work.  Belgrade,  hav- 
ing sudcjenly  sprung  up  from  a  city  of  90,000  before  the  war  to  one 
of  170,000,  due  to  its  increased  importance  as  the  center  of  a  new  na- 
tion, was  crowded  with  people  who  were  not  yet  assimilated.  The  many 
problems  which  such  conditions  brought  must  be  solved  for  the  most 
part  by  the  Serbians  themselves.  On  account  of  these  involved  prob- 
lems and  unassimilated  populations,  the  time  seemed  not  yet  ripe  for 
adding  one  new  organization  to  the  number  akeady  at  work.  In  spite 
of  the  fact  of  general  needs  for  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  and  special  needs 
among  students,  the  practical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  introducing  that 
work  called  for  delay.  The  result  of  the  secretary's  investigation  was 
therefore  that  the  psychological  moment  for  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  enter 
Serbia  had  not  yet  come. 

An  appeal  had  come  from  Lithuania.  In  the  spring  of  1919  the  Y. 
W.  C.  A.  sent  a  representative  to  Lithuania  who  was  afforded  every 
facility  for  looking  into  the  needs  of  the  country.  On  account  of  the 
constant  changes  in  that  country  due  to  war  conditions  and  giving  rise 
to  many  delicate  situations,  it  was  not  found  best  to  begin  work  at  once. 
In  the  spring  of  1920  a  second  appeal  was  made  from  Lithuanians  that 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  should  come  to  their  country.  A  secretary  was  sent 
to  make  a  further  survey  and  bring  in  recommendations.  The  subse- 
quent unsettled  political  conditions  prevented  any  work  being  under- 
taken. 

South  America 

The  stirring  changes  that  followed  the  war  opened  in  many  coun- 
tries opportunities  long  looked  for.  In  South  America  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
had  been  at  work  for  a  number  of  years  in  Buenos  Aires.  It  was 
hoped  to  enlarge  that  work  to  include  other  countries  with  a  plan  com- 
prehending the  needs  of  young  women  as  wide  as  the  continent.  Sud- 
denly came  an  opportunity  of  strategic  importance  for  this  movement. 

i86 


A  Y.  M.  C.  A.  conference  held  at  Periopolis  in  Uruguay  brought  to- 
gether representative  women  from  many  places,  some  of  them  the 
wives  of  secretaries  and  other  leaders.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  saw  the  pos- 
sibility for  using  the  presence  of  these  women,  and  summoning  other 
women  to  a  conference  immediately  following  that  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
An  appeal  was  made  to  the  War  Work  Council  in  New  York  (that 
department  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  which  had  become  used  to  meeting 
emergencies)  for  some  financial  assistance  in  holding  such  a  confer- 
ence. In  the  spring  of  1919,  therefore,  the  conference  of  women  repre- 
senting many  groups  in  South  American  countries  was  held  at  Bella 
Vista,  in  the  Argentine.  It  was  a  getting  together  of  women  to  face  the 
situation  existing  in  South  America,  with  special  attention  to  such 
questions  as  social  morality.  The  solution  of  the  problems  in  morality 
is  always  found  in  work  for  women.  To  realize  their  responsibilities 
and  set  themselves  squarely  in  line  with  their  task  was  the  object  of 
the  conference.  The  result  of  this  conference  has  been  the  extension 
of  the  work  under  the  Foreign'  Department  in  South  America  into 
Uruguay  with  Montevideo  as  headquarters  for  the  whole  continent, 
and  over  to  the  west  coast  where  some  special  centers  are  being 
opened.  With  student  work  beginning  in  Santiago,  Chili,  the  possi- 
bilities are  limitless. 

Students  everywhere  had  suffered  greatly  by  the  war.  Sometimes 
it  meant  the  interruption  of  a  career  and  an  entire  change  in  the  course 
of  a  life.  Sometimes  it  meant  physical  suffering.  Even  those  students 
who  remained  in  colleges  underwent  a  change  in  their  entire  thinking". 
From  being  small  isolated  groups  they  became  more  consciously  a  part 
of  the  great  world  movement  of  students.  Thus  it  came  about  that 
students  in  America  were  aware  of  the  needs  of  students  in  Switzer- 
land and  through  contributions  to  the  war  fund  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
were  able  to  help  the  students  of  other  lands  face  their  trying  condi- 
tions. Switzerland  was  full  of  students  from  war  stricken  countries 
who  could  no  longer  stay  at  home  but  had  hoped  to  continue  their 
work  in  this  neutral  land.  With  the  strain  of  war  hardships,  these 
student  refugees  found  themselves  in  great  want  of  the  necessities  of 
life — clothing,  shoes,  food — or  for  the  necessities  for  continuing  their 
education — books.  Special  appeals  were  made  to  the  American  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  for  the  organization  of  relief  work  among  them.  Through  the 
gifts  of  the  American  Association  this  work  was  made  possible  early 
in  1919.  Special  provision  for  summer  activities  was  planned  with  a 
general  insight  to  the  well-rounded  lif^  of  the  students.  "Do  your 
work  singing  and  build  your  house  without  fearing  the  wind,"  a  song 
very  popular  at  La  Coque,  the  summer  camp  for  students  in  Switzer- 
land, expressed  not  only  the  fine  feeling  of  the  students  but  also  the 
unconquerable  spirit  of  the  land  that  had  given  them  refuge.  Switzer- 
land, even  when  her  own  people  were  in  need,  found  room  for  the 
many  war  sufferers  who  came  within  her  borders.  The  summer  camps 
were  desiring  to  help  the  students  rebuild  their  lives  physically  and 
economically.  Thus  along  with  the  work  of  actual  relief  carried  on 
through  1919  there  came  the  chance  for  self-help  among  the  students. 

Just  as  the  student  movement  was  strengthened  by  the  war,  so  was 

187 


strengthened  a  bond  of  fellowship  among  women  everywhere,  ^com- 
mon war  suffering  had  broken  down  many  class  partitions.)  One-re- 
sult of  war  was  the  opening  of  gateways  into  lands -af-cTt)portunity 
long  coveted.  The  new  opportunity  brought  new  problems — problems 
which  must  be  faced  and  solved  by  women.  It  was  counted  a  privilege 
by  the  American;  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  have  a  share  through  its  work  in 
many  countries  in  tying  the  knot  of  friendship  among  women. 

In  the  early  days  of  its  war  work,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  recognized 
the  strategic  importance  not  only  of  organizing  work  among  young 
women  in  the  countries  to  which  it  went  but  also  recruiting  the  inter- 
est of  representative  groups  of  older  women  of  those  countries  to  take 
a  leadership  in  the  work,  to  stabilize  it  and  to  carry  it  on.  In  France 
such  a  group  was  found  among  the  women  who  would  be  responsible 
for  inviting  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  come  to  France.  In  Great 
Britain  a  close  cooperation  existed  with  leaders  of  the  British  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  and  with  members  of  the  World's  Committee.  In  the  fall  of 
1918  the  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  invited  deputations  from  Great  Britain 
and  from  France  to  visit  America,  see  the  Association  work  there  and 
gain  for  therhselves  impressions  of  the  extent  to  which  the  American 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  could  be  useful  in  Europe.  The  deputations  were  com- 
posed of:  Mme.  Avril  de  Saint  Croix,  director  of  the  work  of  the 
National  Council  of  French  Women  and  also  of  the  Foyer  Cantines; 
Miss  Marie  Butts,  a  professor  from  Switzerland  who  acted  as  inter- 
preter; Mme.  Pierre  Bernard,  who  had  worked  several  months  in  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  Foyer  at  St.  Etienne ;  Mile.  Marguerite  Bourat,  a  factory 
inspector  for  the  French  government;  Mile.  Elizabeth  Fuchs,  head 
of  the  Paris  branches  of  the  Union  Chretienne  de  Jeunes  Filles ;  Miss 
Grace  Hadow,  one  of  the  chief  government  officials  in  the  Welfare 
Department  of  the  British  Ministry  of  Munitions ;  Miss  Edith  Picton- 
Turberville,  O.  B.  E.  (Order  of  the  British  Empire,  conferred  by  the 
King  for  war  service),  a  World's  Committee  member  and  head  of  the 
Foyer  and  finance  work  in  the  British  Y.  W.  C.  A. ;  Miss  Beatrice 
Picton-Turberville,  head  of  the  Women's  Colony  in  the  great  munition 
factory  at  Coventry ;  Mrs.  Philip  Warren,  one  of  the  organizing  secre- 
taries of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  British  WAACS  in  France  and  Great 
Britain ;  Miss  Winifred  Moberly,  in  charge  of  the  British  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
huts  for  WAACS  in  the  Calais  area  of  France;  Mrs.  Francis  Belt, 
former  Red  Cross  worker  in  Russia,  Roumania  and  France,  interested 
in  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work  in  British  munition  centers.  The  result  of  these 
visits  of  deputations  was  a  closer  understanding  of  the  efforts  of  the 
American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Europe  and  a  deeper  spirit  of  sympathy. 
One  of  the  deputations  expressed  it:  "Since  our  two  nations  have 
qualities  which  complement  each  other,  let  us  work  more  and  more 
together  to  reach  our  cherished  ideals."  The  relationship  was  ex- 
pressed by  another  delegate  as  "L'Union  Sacree"  which  would  draw 
closer  the  bonds  already  so  old  and  so  deep. 

As  cooperation  had  been  the  spirit  of  its  early  work  overseas,  inter- 
national relationships  were  the  outgrowth  of  the  later  developments 
in  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  activities  in  Europe.  Certain  of  its  work 
was  performed  under  direct  supervision  of  the  World's  Committee. 

i88 


Such  a  piece  of  work  was  the  Emergency  Training  School  conducted 
in  Paris,  July  15,  to  October  15,  1919,  having  forty-five  students  from 
thirteen  different  nations  whose  three  months  of  intensive  training  in 
social  service  would  fit  them  for  higher  places  of  leadership  in  their 
respective  countries.  In  certain  countries  such  as  Roumania,  Ameri- 
can and  World's  Committee  secretaries  worked  side  by  side.  In  the 
making  of  surveys  and  in  work  for  students,  account  ^  was  taken  of 
the  larger  interests  of  the  World's  Committee  and  of  the  World's  Stu- 
dent Christian  Federation  in  their  wider  background  of  work.  The 
World  s  Committee  for  many  years  had  formed  the  bond  between 
nations  having  any  organized  Y.  W.  C.  A.  work.  In  France,  Italy 
and  Belgium,  national  organizations  were  already  in  existence.  Work 
in  these  countries  was  carried  on  in  cooperation  with  these  organiza- 
tions and  extended  under  the  supervision  of  the  World's  Committee. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  one  direct  result  of  war  was  a  closer  bond 
of  sympathy  in  international  relationships. 

The  American  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  the  beginning  of  its  war  work  had 
small  idea  of  the  far-reaching  effect  this  work  was  to  have  in  its  war 
program  of  activities.  Between  April,  1917,  and  October,  1920,  a  total 
of  407  secretaries  were  sent  across  the  seas.  Workers  were  recruited 
from  other  organizations.  With  this  staff,  work  was  carried  on  in 
nine  countries :  Russia,  Siberia,  France,  Italy,  the  Near  East,  Czecno- 
Slovakia,  Poland,  Roumania  and  Belgium.  The  work  varied  in  kind 
from  club  work  and  educational  work  for  girls  in  cities,  to  recreation 
in  Rescue  Homes  in  remote  corners  of  the  Near  East,  and  from  Host- 
ess Houses  in  regions  frequented  by  troops,  to  Hostels  in  cities  fre- 
quented by  students.  Munition  makers  and  refugees,  city  workers  and 
inhabitants  of  devastated  regions  felt  the  influence  of  the  Foyers. 
Meeting  war  emergencies  became  a  matter  of  transforming  war  meas- 
ures into  peace  results.  The  end  in  view  was  always  the  same :  through 
the  forces  of  circumstances  whether  simplified  by  suffering  or  compH- 
cated  by  new  processes  of  reclamation  to  bring  the  lives  of  girls  into 
gayer,  freer,  healthier  atmosphere  of  physical,  mental  and  spiritual 
well-being.  *Tn  Service  for  the  Girls  of  the  World"  was  indeed  a 
war-time  slogan.  But  it  is  also  the  expression  of  a  purpose  which 
stands  firm  in  the  new  day.  It  is  the  expression  of  a  purpose  already 
being  fulfilled  by  the  Foreign  Department  of  the  National  Board  in 
its  outreaches  to  the  Orient  and  to  South  America.  It  has  therefore 
been  possible  for  the  war  work  of  the  Overseas  Committee  to  be 
merged  with  the  regular  permanent  work  of  the  Foreign  Department. 
The  two  units  of  administration  came  together  in  October,  1920,  as 
the  Foreign  and  Overseas  Department.  Through  this  department  the 
National  Board  continues  this  service  for  girls  of  the  world. 


iSo 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  dace  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


JAN 


fCCDU    JAruO  .  I  -3AM  2  7 


.^u    X  3  i9;j  ij 


^Wo 


SENT  ON  ILL 


ms^f9-4mt 


FEB  0  6  1996 


APR  2  ii  m^ 


U.  C.  BERKELEY 


l^Ll^^ 


LD21A-60m-3,'70 
(N5382sl0)476-A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


CDSflDDsa^E 


